Explore banking tips, account comparisons, and money management strategies. Learn how to choose the best checking and savings accounts, avoid banking fees, use online banking tools, and boost your financial security with smarter banking choices.
Parents and children, siblings, and couples all may, at some point, choose to share a checking. Having an account with someone can be tricky and requires an extra amount of communication to be sure that you’re not overspending or creating problems that can affect your finances and your relationship. Once you open an account with … Read more
Very few banks are offering free accounts these days. So if you want to minimize the amount you pay for using bank accounts, you have to be aware of the fees and know what you can do to avoid them. Some transactions incur small fees that can add up to hundreds in a year if … Read more
In the days when free checking accounts were widely available, choosing a checking account was fairly simple as long as your checking account needs were basic. Just choose the free account. Now that more banks are charging monthly checking account fees, you have to be more cautious about the type of account you open. Accounts … Read more
One of the basic rules of using a checking account is that you should never spend more money than you have available in your account. Break this rule and you’ll receive a financial penalty, either an overdraft fee or a nonsufficient funds fee, depending on what the bank does with the offending transaction. How Overdraft … Read more
This situation may have happened to you: Your bank account is running low, but you have certain purchases you must make. So, you cleverly make your transactions in such a way that, when they’re posted, you’ll only overdraft the final one or transactions, thereby minimizing your overdraft fees. Unfortunately, you may have been among the … Read more
The money in your checking account is for paying your bills and covering everyday expenses. Mismanaging your account can be expensive, resulting in overdrafts, fees, and a myriad of other financial problems. You should keep at least enough money in the account to cover the expenses you have coming due before your next payday. It’s … Read more
It’s rare to find a good or service for which the price stays the same over a period of time. ATM fees are no exception. If you’ve ever used another bank’s ATM to withdraw cash from your checking or savings account, then you know you pay a surcharge, or fee, for that transaction. According to … Read more
Last year, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau began publishing summary data about consumer complaints in an online database. At first, the database only included details about credit card complaints. But, a few days ago, the bureau updated the database to include complaints on all categories taking the number of complaints from 19,000 to over 90,000. … Read more
U.S. banks earned $32 billion in revenue from overdraft fees in 2012, according to Moebs Services, an economic research firm. That’s $32 billion in fees that consumers paid to banks because they, the account holders, didn’t have enough money in their accounts to cover charges. Two Democratic representatives have introduced a bill that, if passed, … Read more
With most of our paychecks being directly deposited into our bank accounts, a trip to the ATM is almost always necessary if you want to have cash on hand. That can often mean taking a trip to an ATM. A visit to a bank other than your own typically means you’ll have to pay a … Read more
