Well, one that's here now that wasn't here when I was starting out is Checking Accounts.
Used to if you wrote a check and the funds weren't there then it was returned, that's not the case any more. The bank pays it, then charges you a fee. Great for the businesses involved, but a big pain for the customer.
Likewise, used to if you used your debit card, at a store or ATM and there were not enough funds, then the charge would be declined. Not anymore. The charge will go through, and you pay the fee.
Checking accounts nowadays are really tricky and you can get yourself in a pickle very easily.
Make sure you go over every detail with the banker before you leave. Ours didn't, and it cost us.
And be 100% about your usage fees. Ours says if you use Direct Deposit OR use your debit 5 times in a month then it's free. But off chance you don't use your debit 5 times then you have a fee. If it's a lean month and that fee hits without you expecting it, and then you use your card to buy groceries... Say you know you had $20 in the account, so you went and bought $18 at the store. That WOULD be all well and good, except that fee went through so your actual balance was $17. The charge at the store will go through, you have no clue that anything is off, but when you next check your balance you'll see a $30+ charge. Example...
HERE'S WHAT YOU THOUGHT WAS GOING ON....
Item.................................. New Balance
Deposit $20.00................. $20.00
Kroger $18.00................... $2.00
WHAT YOU SEE WHEN YOU CHECK....
Deposit $20.00................. $20.00
Kroger $18.00................... $2.00
Checking Fee $3.00.......... $-1.00
NSF Charge -$30.00..........-$31.00
ACK!! Disaster... and it only increases exponentially. Like if you're a bargain shopper who hits several stores to get that $20 (but really $40 'cuz you have coupons!) worth of stuff... then you'll have a $30 charge PER STORE!
Also, if you use your card to pay at the pump for gas, or in a restaurant some places will automatically add a buffer. For tipping I can understand, but I have no clue about the gas one. When restaurants take a card they run it for the amount, you sign and add tip, and at the end of the night they go back and edit the charge to include that tip. To make sure there's room they sometimes will 'approve' a certain % above the ticket so adding the tip doesn't cause problems. But if they don't do that then it can be complicated... Example of problem... say you had $48 in your account... after you made a deposit.... so you went out to eat.... next morning, before running your errands, you check your account online...
Item.................................. New Balance
Deposit $48.00................. $48.00
Olive Garden $30.00......... $18.00
So you go and buy groceries... $15.00 worth (figure that'll leave that nice $3 in case of fees buffer)
Next morning, or couple days you check again and see
Deposit $48.00................. $48.00
Olive Garden $35.00......... $13.00
Kroger $15.00...................-$2.00
NSF Charge -$30.00..........-$32.00
You have to keep an eagle eye... you can't just assume because OG posted that it was done and over. You have to double check the amounts!!
I really really really wish I'd interrogated the banker when we signed on. Had I done that we wouldn't have been caught unawares by these types of things. Well, I knew about the fee one, that didn't get us. But the tip edit one did once. Serves me right for not just cooking at home!! I thought that if there was no funds, then just like a credit card it would DECLINE. Thus preventing you from overdrawing your account (unless you're out writing paper checks), that is NOT the case. They will happily let you hang yourself!!
Used to if you wrote a check and the funds weren't there then it was returned, that's not the case any more. The bank pays it, then charges you a fee. Great for the businesses involved, but a big pain for the customer.
Likewise, used to if you used your debit card, at a store or ATM and there were not enough funds, then the charge would be declined. Not anymore. The charge will go through, and you pay the fee.
Checking accounts nowadays are really tricky and you can get yourself in a pickle very easily.
Make sure you go over every detail with the banker before you leave. Ours didn't, and it cost us.
And be 100% about your usage fees. Ours says if you use Direct Deposit OR use your debit 5 times in a month then it's free. But off chance you don't use your debit 5 times then you have a fee. If it's a lean month and that fee hits without you expecting it, and then you use your card to buy groceries... Say you know you had $20 in the account, so you went and bought $18 at the store. That WOULD be all well and good, except that fee went through so your actual balance was $17. The charge at the store will go through, you have no clue that anything is off, but when you next check your balance you'll see a $30+ charge. Example...
HERE'S WHAT YOU THOUGHT WAS GOING ON....
Item.................................. New Balance
Deposit $20.00................. $20.00
Kroger $18.00................... $2.00
WHAT YOU SEE WHEN YOU CHECK....
Deposit $20.00................. $20.00
Kroger $18.00................... $2.00
Checking Fee $3.00.......... $-1.00
NSF Charge -$30.00..........-$31.00
ACK!! Disaster... and it only increases exponentially. Like if you're a bargain shopper who hits several stores to get that $20 (but really $40 'cuz you have coupons!) worth of stuff... then you'll have a $30 charge PER STORE!
Also, if you use your card to pay at the pump for gas, or in a restaurant some places will automatically add a buffer. For tipping I can understand, but I have no clue about the gas one. When restaurants take a card they run it for the amount, you sign and add tip, and at the end of the night they go back and edit the charge to include that tip. To make sure there's room they sometimes will 'approve' a certain % above the ticket so adding the tip doesn't cause problems. But if they don't do that then it can be complicated... Example of problem... say you had $48 in your account... after you made a deposit.... so you went out to eat.... next morning, before running your errands, you check your account online...
Item.................................. New Balance
Deposit $48.00................. $48.00
Olive Garden $30.00......... $18.00
So you go and buy groceries... $15.00 worth (figure that'll leave that nice $3 in case of fees buffer)
Next morning, or couple days you check again and see
Deposit $48.00................. $48.00
Olive Garden $35.00......... $13.00
Kroger $15.00...................-$2.00
NSF Charge -$30.00..........-$32.00
You have to keep an eagle eye... you can't just assume because OG posted that it was done and over. You have to double check the amounts!!
I really really really wish I'd interrogated the banker when we signed on. Had I done that we wouldn't have been caught unawares by these types of things. Well, I knew about the fee one, that didn't get us. But the tip edit one did once. Serves me right for not just cooking at home!! I thought that if there was no funds, then just like a credit card it would DECLINE. Thus preventing you from overdrawing your account (unless you're out writing paper checks), that is NOT the case. They will happily let you hang yourself!!
Last edited:
