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 Online Banking
Don’t Get Trapped
By Robert
C. Hunter
Law professor emeritus
FEBRUARY 4, 2010:
First the
good news: Congress now restricts how much banks can charge
for credit card and check overdrafts. But watch out. Like
water running downhill, you can bet banks will make up for
that loss by adjusting their fee structures to new low
points.
One that I would not have thought
of was online banking. Call me naïve, but I thought going paperless wouldn’t
cost me any more than I’m already paying. Au contraire. Here’s what happened to
me.
My wife and I recently purchased
a new car. I set up an online account to monitor and pay the monthly bill. When
setting up the account the bank encouraged me to “go paperless,” but at the end
of the registration process it offered the possibility to not go paperless. I
chose the latter. When I went to make a payment I discovered the bank was
charging a $10 fee for "same day processing." I sent my payment by U.S. mail,
instead, to avoid the e-fee.
I have since discovered that I
can set up regular online payments without paying the $10 processing fee and
will perhaps choose that. But the message seems clear: Banks now consider
"paperless" a profit option. Read carefully! |
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