Took me 3 years to realize I was paying $15 a month for overdraft protection I never needed

I always thought overdraft protection was just a standard thing everyone had, so I never questioned the fee. Then I got a $35 charge for a $2 coffee that slipped through, and the bank told me that fee was on top of the monthly protection cost. I did the math and realized I had paid over $500 in fees and premiums over 3 years for basically nothing. Is it smarter to just link a savings account or keep a buffer instead of paying for this service?

2 comments

2 Comments

bettyh844d ago

Keep in mind that linking a savings account can still hit you with transfer fees if the bank treats it like a separate transaction. Definitely cheaper than $15 a month though, just double check their fine print on that. Have you looked into just setting a low balance alert instead?

tessa_hill864d ago

My friend actually got nailed by one of those fees and @bettyh84 is totally right about reading the fine print.