No one wants to hear this from a banker's perspective, but a banker is also a customer like anyone else, subject to the same rights, rules and restrictions of our financial institution. I have never had an overdraft fee waived or had to wait less time to receive my checks or debit card than the customers I service every day.

The easiest way to avoid bank fees is the most obvious: keep careful track of every penny coming in and going out of your account, and DO NOT spend against the future! You may have a direct deposit going in every other Friday, so you write a check on Tuesday, depending upon the "float time" it takes for the check to hit the Federal Reserve before coming back to your bank for actual payment. You are thinking your direct deposit will be in by then, right? Hopefully you know by now that checks are being processed by most places electronically and can be submitted for payment the same day you write them.

Banks are not non-profit organizations. Despite the perception that they are rolling in dough, they depend upon core deposits to meet their own loan obligations, and they need fee income to cover the basic expenses of any business. If a customer is less than diligent about keeping track of his account balance and consistently overdraws his account but continues to make deposits that bring the account into the positive, the bank will happily accomodate the customer by paying the checks but charging the overdraft fees. There is no deception involved here at all. When an account is opened at my financial institution, every bit of this information is openly disclosed to the customer. Free overdraft protection is offered, which is like a consumer loan with a hefty rate that is also disclosed. A customer may or may not qualify for it, but in the event that he doesn't, he has the option of using a savings account for overdraft transfers, at the cost of $5.00 a transfer, rather than a $29.00 overdraft fee.

The bottom line for any customer is to pay attention. Wait for money to come before you spend it, and you can beat the bank at their own game, as many like to see it. Otherwise be of the understanding that banks do have the right to charge these fees according to their policies and will continue to do so if you are not watching your own money. It is a very simple solution to a problem banks love to have: customers who would rather overdraw their accounts and pay the fees than wait for the actual money to be available to them. The sad part is, banks always have plenty of customers like that. There is no reason at all you have to be one of them.

Learn more about this author, Mary Weir.
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