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It Adds Up: Avoiding Common Checking Account Fees

Your checking account is your main financial touchpoint, handling the bulk of your day-to-day banking transactions. Depending on your account, you can be charged a wide range of fees for services you use or for failing to meet certain requirements such as maintaining a minimum account balance.
These fees can really add up. According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, checking account holders pay an average of $9.87 in fees each month. However, this figure jumps to an average of $29.09, or $349 per year, for customers who opt into accounts that offer a host of free services but include significant fees for overdraft protection.
While it may be hard to get out of paying checking account charges altogether, you can put cash back in your pocket by being smart about choosing the checking account you choose, and being careful about the way you manage your money each month.
Let’s take a look at seven of the most common checking account fees, and some ways you can avoid paying them.

1. Monthly Service Fee

Your bank or credit union may be charging you a flat monthly service fee for a checking account with premium features such as no minimum balance or no minimum number of debit card transactions per month.
You can avoid monthly service fees for good by signing up for Heritage Community Credit Union’s free checking accounts like Kasasa Cash Checking or Kasasa Cash Back Checking, which both offer a wide range of checking services for no monthly service fee.

2. Overdraft Fee

Many checking accounts might charge a hefty fee if you spend more than the amount in your account, with some institutions charging up to $35 every time you go into the red. That can add up fast, especially if you tend to overspend or have an irregular income.
While many budget checking accounts require you to opt into higher overdraft fees, it’s possible to find low-cost or free accounts that either offer a grace period of around 24 hours before charging an overdraft fee or charge a smaller fee to transfer the required amount from a linked savings account.

3. Non-Sufficient Funds (NSF) Fee

Many free or low-cost accounts will also alert you if your account balance falls below a certain level. Since this can easily happen several times in a day, these fees can also add up fast!
You can also avoid NSF fees by choosing Heritage’s no-minimum-balance Kasasa Cash Checking and Cash Back Checking accounts.

4. ATM Fee

You may end up paying fees to both your bank or credit union as well as an ATM operator for the convenience of drawing money from teller machines that aren’t affiliated with your institution— especially if you are with a small institution with only a limited network of ATMs.
You can avoid this fee by switching to a bank or credit union that has more machines in your area, or to a checking account that will reimburse you for out-of-network withdrawals.

5. Paper Statement Fee

Many banks and credit unions save money by requiring you to opt into paperless statement delivery, or e-statements, via email. Therefore if you must have paper statements, be aware that you could be charged up to $5 per statement, which would be $60 a year if you require monthly paper statements.
You can avoid this fee by making sure that you’re enrolled in paperless delivery. You can always print out a statement from your home/office printer rather than have the bank mail you one.

6. Foreign Transaction Fee

Be cautious about using your debit card for purchases or ATM withdrawals outside the U.S. Not only might you be charged a fee by the merchant or local ATM network, but your bank or credit union will often charge a percentage fee for the dollar value of the transaction.
You can avoid this fee by using a debit or credit card that does not charge foreign transaction fees. You can also buy Visa, MasterCard, and American Express prepaid cash cards that can be used internationally.

7. Account Closure Fee

This is a little-known fee that can cost you a lot. Unless you keep sufficient funds in the account, a fee charged for closing your account can easily result in an overdraft, leading to further charges. If you’re not aware that your account has not been closed because it has been overdrawn, you can be charged further late fees and even end up being referred to a collections agency.
Fortunately, this fee is designed to stop you from opening and closing accounts too often and can usually be avoided simply by keeping an account open for the required time before closing it.

A Checking Account That Pays You

Instead of charging you a monthly service fee or requiring a minimum balance, Heritage Community Credit Union rewards our Kasasa Cash Checking holders with higher dividends than many savings accounts!
Our free Kasasa Cash Back Checking Account offers:
2.50% annual percentage yield (APY) on balances up to $25,000
No minimum balance
No monthly maintenance fee
Up to $25 per month in refunds on ATM withdrawals nationwide
We also offer our members:
Free Kasasa Cash Back Checking, with up to $8 back in your account every month
Free Kasasa Tunes Checking, with refunds on purchases with popular online merchants.