Service With a...Fee
Fees have become a prime source of revenue for banks. According to an article in the LA Times, fees accounted for over 40 percent of bank revenue last year--up from 34 percent a decade ago. And guess who's paying all those fees? Want your canceled checks? Bank of America will send them to customers for $3. Want to talk with a customer service rep? Wells Fargo charges $2 if the question could have been answered by its automated service. Need to stop payment on a check? Citibank charges some customers $30.
Matt's View
My vote for craziest bank fee is the now-common overdraft fee for spending more with a debit card than you have in your account. While it's true that we should know enough about our current balance to not over-spend, you would think banks could just prohibit the transaction from going through. Apparently it's more profitable to let it go and collect the fee. How do you say, "Let the bank customer beware" in Latin?
This article filed in: Banking
Managing Money by The Book
- "To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.'" - 2 Corinthians 12:7-9
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