I was driving home the other day and the radio host was talking about banking fees. I wish I hadn’t been almost at our destination because I would have enjoyed hearing more of the show. The part I heard was about new fees for using debit cards.
I love my debit card. It’s fast and it’s easy. It’s not a credit card, so I can spend only the money I have. It’s not checks, so I don’t have to carry a pen or hold up a line filling in the blanks. Debit cards are one of the best advancements in banking for me.
One of the reasons I love my debit card is that I don’t have to carry cash, but have easy access to it. I don’t like to use automated teller machines because they are not convenient. I will not pay ATM fees just to get to my money. ATM fees can be very high. The machine you use can charge a fee and then the bank can charge a fee. The only way around fees at ATMs is to use the ones that belong to your bank. Your bank may not be where you need it to be, though.
Even before debit cards there were point of sale machines in stores where you could use your ATM card to pay for the transaction. You could also get cash back. You could do all of this without incurring a fee from the merchant or your bank.
Now banks are going to charge their customers for the convenience that debit cards provide. I can’t afford the fees, which is why I have a free checking account. I don’t want to go back to writing checks. I may have to go back to using credit cards. I’ll decide when I hear from my bank.