the Price of Overdraft Protection

With a huge family, it is sometimes hard to keep up on bank account registers and other files and records. This is why we signed up for overdraft protection for our bank account, so that we had some way to make sure we were ok if we went over our limit.

This means that we kept a certain amount in a savings account that was linked to a checking account. When we did happen to go over, we did not get charged normal overdraft fees from the bank, and we always were able to use our card to make purchases, even if there was not a large enough balance in our checking account.

The total cost for the service itself is free. There is a four dollar a month charge for the savings account, unless you keep a certain balance. There is a ten dollar per occurance charge for the actual overdrafts that happen.

This service was a godsend for those times that you know you are overdrawing your account, but you have little choice. The time it happened to us, we were away from home and the car broke down. Because we had overdraft protection on our checking account, we were able to pay for the parts and service needed to fix our car without being worried that the debit card would be declined. It is a great service for anyone who has an account. It is free, so you don't pay a monthly charge, so it doesn't really effect your banking at all.

In the times that you are in trouble, and you do need it in place, it is already there and you will not have to worry about problems that may arise such as the big fees that banks charge for over drafting an account.

Check with your bank regarding this service. I believe that all banks offer some version. The fees may be different depending on which bank you are using, so make sure that you know what they are before you sign up and may need to use the service.

Any bank employee should be able to tell you the information about the overdraft protection that the bank has. It is not very complex and is usually fairly straightforward.