Despite the looming crackdown on banks for high overdraft fees, banks are still finding ways to nickel and dime consumers. Here are a couple of painful fees discussed recently by Forbes magazine.
Balance Transfer Fees aren't so balanced when banks charge a fee of between 3 and 5 percent. This means that transferring a balance from a credit card with a 15 percent interest rate to a card with a better rate of 12 percent may not save you anything at all. In fact, depending on your fee, it could cost your more.
Balance Requirement is another costly fee for many consumers with "free" checking or savings accounts. Sure, the bank waives the service charge for maintaining a set minimum balance, but fall below this number and you could be charged up to $8 every time - not to mention the opportunity cost of the money set aside for maintaining your balance in the first place.
Would you pay your broker 25 percent commission? Well, Forbes reported that Bank of America is charging customers from other banks $3 for ATM withdrawals. If your bank charges an additional fee, you're likely paying up to $5, or 25 percent, every time you take 20 bucks from the ATM. Ouch!
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