Angie's List: Beware of Bank Fees
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Posted: 10:59 PM Dec 16, 2011
Angie's List: Beware of Bank Fees
Recently, several banks canceled their plans to impose a monthly debit card fee, but banks will likely come up with other ways to recoup transaction fee losses. In this Angie's List Report, News Four's Tessa Darlington tells us how to avoid these possible future bank fees.
Reporter: Tessa Darlington
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Recently, several banks canceled their plans to impose a monthly debit card fee, but banks will likely come up with other ways to recoup transaction fee losses.

In this Angie's List Report, News Four's Tessa Darlington tells us how to avoid these possible future bank fees.

Banks, like everyone else, are always looking to make money. They were set to rake in a bunch of cash if they would have gone ahead and charged you to use a debit card.

"Just about any purse or wallet you're going to see a debit card. In a recent Angie's List poll, fifty percent of the respondents said they use their debit card everyday,” Angie’s List Founder Angie Hicks said.

That idea got declined when angry bank customers started threatening to close their accounts.

Although those debit card fees are off the table for now, analysts expect banks to come up with other ways to make money.

"It’s important to be reviewing your bank statements or any literature you're receiving from your bank so that you can see notification ahead of time and change your habits or change your bank,” Hicks said.

Besides keeping an eye out for future fees, ask your bank if there are any ways you can avoid fees they already have in place. For example, a lot of banks will charge to send you paper statements. Try going paperless. However, financial experts say the biggest fees that will cost you are the ones you can control.

"I see overdraft charges as a problem for all income brackets for not maintaining enough cash in their bank account, so boosting your cash reserves may also help you avoid these fees which I see among the steepest that banks charge,” Certified Financial Planner Susan Elser said.

You can see if your bank has an alert option which you let you know if your account is close to going negative or if you are about to be charged a penalty fee.

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