Most of us are using bank services on a daily basis, right? We are paying our bills, sending money abroad, using our credit cards to pay for goods and services, etc. Do many of us know how much money on fees, interest rates, and other related costs spend weekly/monthly, or annually? Are you sure that you paid such money for something that you really need?

Let’s dig into that topic together to find out where the truth is. 

Let me give you a simple example – recently, I withdrew cash from ATM, and the amount was around $500. I was using the ATM of my Bank. So, I withdrew cash, went home, and… surprise-surprise – in the statement Bank charged me for approx. $30 fee for cash withdrawal. How comes it was always zero fee transaction? 

The answer is – by mistake, I used my credit card instead of my debit one, Bank made it absolutely the same, same colors and design. Was it done with a reason? I don’t know, but $30 has already left my account…

Another example of ‘hidden’ fees – is when you want to send money to someone through some payment provider application that requires your card details to fund the transfer. What could happen? When you use your credit card instead of a debit – your bank might consider this funding transaction as a cash advance without any notification to charge extra fees, and in the case of a credit card, it might be pretty painful (up to 10% of the transaction amount)

Ok, enough about credit cards. Let`s review another case – a current account opening when Bank promises you a sign-in bonus, sounds familiar? I`m sure – you heard about this many times, even big international banks like to play such games. Usually, an offer sounds like this: open the account, deposit a minimum amount of funds, and after three months you will receive the sign-in bonus amount. Usually, in the same agreement, you will find a condition that you have to maintain the minimum balance, and Bank will not pay any interest, zero. And almost no one will calculate that bank pays you once and upfront the interest (which is equal to a sign-in bonus or even lower) and will not pay you after that for a lifetime of this account. Even worse when Banks offer you a gift and not cash. It`s done for the purpose of masking the actual value of this gift (usually it`s not a high-quality thing) and acquire new customers (to fool them again and again in the future). 

            In our following articles, we will provide you with a complete guide on how not to get into the Marketing trap and not to let Banks fool you.

Do you want to know more? Be smart, and stay tuned with Finsmarta.