3 Tips to Beat Banks

According to the Canadian Banker Association (CBA), there are approximately 6,303 bank branches across the country. Regardless if you work with a rural, small-town branch or a larger corporate facility, banks can be known for being a little more secretive than we’d like them to be.

In a study by the CBA, it shows that close to ninety per cent of people in Canada trust banks as being stable and secure. Given this fact, it’s no surprise that a bank can help educate a person on their finances; however, there are some features of banking that often go missed, and this can leave someone with added fees, overdrafts and a lot of confusion.

How can a person ensure that they’re remaining up-to-date on undisclosed banking information? Here are our three tips to remember when it comes to you, your bank and the money in-between:

1) Negotiate

There are a ton of different expenses that your bank can bill you with, and a lot of the time, people are unaware of them until they’re charged. Unfortunately, banks have a right to pay themselves back. However, it’s common for Canadian banks to waive added fees, and sometimes all it takes is negotiating to have them either cut down or dropped entirely.

Overdraft fees can drain your wallet due to high interest rates. If you have a tendency of going over your monthly credit limit, block your card at its capacity to prevent yourself from getting charged.

2) Read the Fine Print

Whenever you’re signing up for something new, it’s important that you know every detail of the agreement. Particularly when it comes to banks; whether you’re applying for a new credit card or opening a bank account, make an appointment with a financial advisor so that they can explain the terms and conditions with you. Alongside this, the more research that you do, the less likely you’ll have to deal with unwanted financial surprises in the future.

3) Educate Yourself

Educating yourself financially will help you better detect if something seems off with your banking process. Due to tough guidelines and requirements, most of the time, the rates that banks advertise are hard to qualify for. Not to mention, they don’t always promote their best rate accounts. Compare bank rates, do your research, and ask questions – the more you know about how a bank works, the better deals you’ll get.

Ignoring how the financing industry operates and not negotiating added fees, or neglecting to read the fine print, could be extremely costly to you. The next time you have a banking inquiry, be sure to keep these tips in mind to avoid confusion and ensure that you’re getting the best deals available to you.