Savings on fees free checking accounts
If you are looking for a free checking account you should know there is a way to get one. It seems that the number of free checking accounts has dropped down to under 40% since 2009. Although the economy has recovered and checking accounts with option of savings and slightly higher interest rates than before are popular again, having checking account completely free is far from reality. It may not be a bad idea to check what exactly you’re paying for with the bank you’re currently using since there may be some charges and fees that can be avoided elsewhere.
Most of the major USA banks will charge you anywhere from 10 to 20 dollars each month in form of maintenance fee for your checking account. In other words, you could be spending anywhere between $150 and $250 just for the maintenance of such an account. If you don’t want to pay the fees you should know there is a way to avoid them as long as you keep a certain set of rules. Banks will also offer you some other options for free that shouldn’t be overlooked especially in the long run.
With Bank of America you can have your $12 monthly fee erased as long as you are depositing at least $250 each month. Next option to avoid paying bank fees is to maintain your balance above $1500, there is also an option to have completely free checking account if you are a student aged under 23. If you want to set up a saving checking account you can also avoid maintenance fees by maintaining a $300 daily balance or by making transfers of at least $25 from your checking to your Bank of America saving account.
With Wells Fargo you can also have a checking account completely free by making a deposit of $500 or by keeping your account balance above $1500 (similar as with Bank of America). There are also other benefits with Fargo such as free online banking (with free mobile banking and account alerts), platinum debit card and optional overdraft protection. Also there is a neat option of weaving off monthly fee if you make 10 purchases or payments using your credit card – certainly something we all do but still have to pay charges for.
Just do some math on your own and see how much you are spending each year on things that should be free. You could easily be paying more than $50 in a form of bank fees which can accumulate to over a $500 per year. This amount of money is more than what you need in form of deposit to start checking account with either of the mentioned banks.
