Money and Finance Articles

Why is it that someone who has the least amount of money gets charged the most in banking fees? More specifically overdraft fees, which can run as high as $35 per overdraft charge. This can get very expensive and very fast to the customer, but it is big business to banks. They love it and they are making a fortune.

Here is a little example to show how fast these outrageous charges can add up:

Let’s say you have $70.00 in your checking account and you need to go and run a few errands. You do not have any cash in your pocket and you use your debit or check card for simple purchases. Many people think, why carry cash when I can just use my debit or cash card anytime I want, right? Yep, and banks love you for it.

First things first, you need a little gas in your tank but you do not want to fill it up due to the high gas prices and you do not get paid for two more days. So you put in $15 dollars of gas, about 3-4 gallons depending on where you live and the current prices. Lucky you live close to where you work (unlike a lot of people) so that much gas should cover you until your next paycheck gets deposited in your bank account (at your so friendly bank).

Next you just have to make a quick stop at you know where to get a cup of coffee, which for simplicity sake lets say runs you $2.

Then you make a quick stop at a beauty store for something small – cost $5. Then you make a quick drive through meal grab for $7 bucks.

Lastly you need some food, just a few things, at the grocery store until you get paid again and can do a larger grocery shopping trip. So you grab what you think is just a handful of necessities (you know – Milk, eggs, bread, some fruit, cereal, and a couple of other things) to cover you and your family. You think, “Holy Cow! that little bit cost me $56 bucks?”. You calculate in your head, yea you’ve got enough in the bank to cover it, right? (nope, that all comes to $85, you are $15 dollars short because you forgot about getting the gas and you only have $70 dollars in the bank).

When you get home you login to your online checking to confirm how much money you have left in your account. To your horror you realize you are short and think, “oh no, now the bank is going to ding me $34 bucks for being short”.

The problem is you are calculating your cash shortage using common sense math, not greedy banking math. You may have though, at the end of the day you are short overall for the day, so you will get charged for one overdraft fee (nope). Or you may have more commonly thought “Ok, the last thing I bought was the groceries, so I have enough cash in the bank account to cover the first four purchases, but that last one to the grocery store I will be short on cash and will get charged for one overdraft fee”, right. That is what many folks think, but lets put on our greedy banking math hats and see what we can come up with.

The next day you login to your checking account via online banking and see four overdraft bank charges of $34 each totaling $136 dollars. Well there goes your next grocery shopping trip thanks to the greedy banking company (i.e., causing hardships for average working families who are short enough on cash as it is).

You know why, because here is the way banking company math usually works (in their favor, of course).

You had $70, so the bank subtracts out the highest amount spent first (even though you spent it last), then it takes the next highest dollar amount, and so on. Therefore your charges go like this:

Image if you had made more little debit card purchases, it could of cost you several hundred dollars in fees in one day. You may not be able to buy needed groceries for your family on your next payday. This is outrageous that banks are allowed to do this.

Tip – If you know you are short on cash and you have some errands to run, first go to the ATM machine, withdrawal the cash and then run your errands.

Plus, get out of the habit of using debit cards and cash cards. All these outrageous bank fees are making greedy banks billions of dollars each year. Take back the power, use cash.