These fees may be charged on a one-time or ongoing basis. Examples of bank fees range from account maintenance charges, withdrawal and transfer fees, automated teller machine (ATM) fees, non-sufficient fund (NSF) fees, late payment charges, and others.
Why Do Banks Charge Fees? Banks charge fees to help make a profit. Bank fees allow financial institutions to recoup operating expenses. Banks also make money on loans, via interest and other fees.
Most often, fees are the payment one makes for service, both basic—mowing a lawn, for example, and complex—like drafting a will or preparing your taxes. Sometimes there is more than one fee charged for a service (i.e., buying a plane ticket for X amount of money, but getting hit with luggage fees and travel fees).
Not all banks charge a monthly maintenance fee. But, many large financial institutions do. Banks will tack on different amounts for their monthly maintenance fee, and it's part of how they make their money. Here's a closer look at some of the fees at the biggest banks in the U.S. and how you can avoid them.
According to banking analysis by MyBankTracker, the average basic checking account fee at the top 10 U.S. banks is at $9.60. Currently, the most expensive monthly maintenance fee is at TD Bank, while the lowest fee of $0 per month can be found at Capital One.
The average American pays $7 in banking fees every month, according to a recent GOBankingRates survey. These fees vary by user but include everything from monthly maintenance/service fees, to charges for overdrafts and insufficient funds.
The total amount of such fee income created by banks in 2015 was a whopping $34.6B. Shockingly, that amount of fee income averages out to about $107 per American (323.6M people), including every man, woman, and child, account holder or not.
Other Bank Fees
An "Other Bank Fee" is charged if you withdraw funds from your chequing or savings account at another financial institution's ATM.
A monthly maintenance fee (sometimes called a monthly service fee) is money a bank charges you for working with the company. The fee is usually automatically withdrawn from your account each month. In some cases, you'll pay the fee no matter what.
Many banks charge a monthly maintenance fee in order to cover costs associated with maintaining accounts. These fees might also cover the banks' costs to offer additional perks to their account holders.
A transaction fee is a charge that a business has to pay every time it processes a customer's payment. The cost of the transaction fee will vary depending on the service used.
Pay your bills, get cash, make deposits, and transfer money–all without monthly fees and extra trips to the bank. You can open a checking account online and manage your account securely by signing in on your phone or computer, instead of waiting for the bank to open first.
While the Capital One 360 Checking Account is our number-one no-monthly-maintenance-fee checking account, that doesn't mean it has zero fees. But overall, there are minimal fees. You won't incur foreign transaction fees, so you can use your debit card outside the U.S. without any extra costs.
With a cash back card, it's relatively simple to calculate whether the rewards offset the cost of the annual fee. Depending on how much you spend on your card, the cash back rewards you earn may offset the yearly fee entirely. Especially if you consistently make your payments on time and use your card responsibly.
Banks primarily make money from the interest on loans and the fees they charge their customers. These fees can be tied to specific products, such as bank accounts or related to financial services. For example, an investment bank that offers portfolio management to investors can charge a fee for that service.
Withdrawal fees are charges you may incur when you transfer money to certain accounts, make a debit purchase out of an account, or get cash from an ATM that's outside of your banking network or in another country.