Bank fees look small one at a time, which is how a monthly charge, a few out-of-network ATM withdrawals a month, and an overdraft or two can cost you $200 or more a year. Add up the last 12 months of fees on your statements, then eliminate the biggest one first.
A $5 charge rarely feels worth a phone call, and that’s how it stays on your statement for years. Each fee shows up as its own small line, so the yearly cost is easy to miss.
Run the numbers on a common mix. A $5 monthly maintenance fee, two out-of-network ATM withdrawals a month at about $5 each, and two overdrafts a year at about $27 each come to roughly $234 a year. Those amounts sit close to the national averages Bankrate reports in its yearly fee survey.
Finding your own number takes one sitting. Download the last 12 months of statements, or search your transaction history for “fee,” “charge,” “overdraft,” and “NSF” (nonsufficient funds, a bounced-payment fee), and add up every hit. Your statement already totals two kinds. Federal rules require banks to show what you paid in overdraft fees and bounced-payment fees for both the statement period and the year to date.
Then work down the list, biggest first. Many banks drop the monthly maintenance fee for customers who set up direct deposit or keep a minimum balance, so check what yours requires. If you can’t meet it, move to an account without one. Nearly half of basic checking accounts charge no monthly fee, according to Bankrate.
For overdrafts, turn off overdraft coverage for debit card and ATM transactions. Banks can’t charge overdraft fees on those unless you opted in, and you can revoke that consent at any time. The rule doesn’t cover checks or automatic payments, so set a low-balance alert as well.
For ATM fees, stick to your bank’s network or get cash back at checkout from a store that doesn’t charge for it.
Then call the bank about whatever is left and ask for the recent fees back. If it says no, the total you just added up is your case for switching.
If you’re switching banks, compare the best free checking accounts.
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