The average checking account has 30 separate fees and, despite consumer-friendly changes to regulations, banks are rolling in dough from them — especially overdraft fees, which can be as high as $35 per transaction.
There’s a really simple way to avoid some of these fees, a new study says: Just ask.
A study conducted for Credit.com found 44 percent of respondents have gotten bank fees waived by doing that. “The ‘no’ results here include those who haven’t requested a fee reversal,” it adds. Here’s the breakdown of what those who succeeded got waived:
- Overdraft fees, 35 percent.
- Late payment fees, 24 percent.
- Annual fees, 10 percent.
- Returned check fees, 6 percent.
- Low balance fees, 6 percent.
- Over limit fees, 5 percent.
If you’re doing the math, the other 13 percent said they weren’t sure what fee type they got waived.
The demographic breakdowns are interesting, too. People age 35-44 had the most success in getting fees waived, getting results 54 percent of the time. Younger adults succeeded 39 percent of the time, and older Americans a third of the time.
Those who identified as white also tended to have more success (46 percent) than black (40 percent) or Hispanic (38 percent) customers.
Parents with children living at home also had more success (51 percent), as did those with college education (58 percent). “This could simply be due to the fact that they are more likely to protest when a fee is imposed,” the study says.
Asking works on a lot more than fees. In fact, we’ved called it the simplest way to pay less for just about anything. Check out the things you can save on just by asking in the video below:
Have you gotten bank fees waived before? Let us know how you did it on our Facebook page.
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