No one likes having to pay their bank overdraft fees, but from time to time it may happen. Usually we do not let it happen on purpose, it may be that we just miscalculated how much we had in our checking account or a check got cleared sooner than we thought, no matter the reason it does happen on occasion to almost everyone. Banks are getting rich off of overdraft fees while we are losing out on more and more money.
If you were asked how much do you think that banks made in overdraft fees last year would you have a guess at all? If so, what would that guess be? You may be surprised by the amount that the banking industry made last year off of overdraft fees alone. Most people might think that the amount is in the millions, and they would be wrong. The banking industry made $32 billion; yes that’s billion with a b, in overdraft fees last year alone.
Can you believe that amount?! That amount is so huge! If they are making that much off of overdraft fees in just one year why do they need to charge all the other fees that they charge? Surely they have enough to cover all that they need with that money.
In the beginning of 2012 overdraft fees fell to the lowest it had been in eleven years. This means that most of that $32 billion was brought in the last three quarters of the year. If they can have a full year that is as profitable as the last three quarters were last year one can only imagine how much they would make.
Experts are saying that things are going to get worse though. it is expected that by the end of 2016 overdraft fees are going to be at all-time highs which means that the banks charging these fees are going to be making more than ever off of these charges. This is bad news for consumers. Take this time to learn to manage your checking account to make sure that you never, ever overdraw your account, because fees will be going up and soon it will cost way too much to pay for an overdraft fee that it will really hurt the bottom line for most people if they accidently overdraw their account.
It is estimated that about 26 percent of those who have checking accounts frequently overdraw your account. That equals out to about 38 million Americans. That is a lot of people who overdraw their account every year. Imagine what would happen to the banking industry if all, or even most, of those people stopped overdrawing their accounts, the banking industry would take a huge hit.
It should be expected that just about every year the overdraft fees will be going up. If the overdraft fees go up it is reasonable to expect that the amount that the banking industry will make more every year off of overdraft fees every year. It would be nice if we were to be pleasantly surprised one year by the amount they are making off of overdraft fees to go down, but it does not seem as though that is likely to happen anytime soon. It will take those who regularly overdraw their accounts to actively work hard on not overdrawing their accounts to make that change happen, and in this fast passed world is that really something we can expect? Maybe, will mobile banking, but only time will tell what will happen with the banking industry and how much they make on overdraft fees every year.
Recommended Readings
The post 2012 Bank Overdraft Fees appeared first on .
