Johannesburg – Banks exist to do two things: give you access to your money when you need it, and help you save it when you don’t.
But it’s hard to grow your money when you are accruing hundreds of rand in banking charges every month.
What you need is a way to cut banking costs while also allowing your money to grow – one that takes advantage of the many incentives that banks are giving customers to become less dependent on branches and ATMs.
Few people know how much they pay in bank charges because the reality is that only a few people peruse their bank statements every month.
Although the fees you pay to your bank may never go away entirely, a little knowledge and some proper planning can help you reduce your fees dramatically.
Take Bongani Mthembu who spends about R215 a month on bank fees just for his personal account. That is R2 579 a year.
This is money that can be directed to other expenditures or to saving for rainy days.
Cheslyn Jacobs, an executive: sales and service at TymeBank, said switching to a more cost-effective bank is not only wise, against the backdrop of rising everyday costs, it is almost a must.
“Taking into consideration that as of October 2021, the average household food basket cost R4 317.56 and electricity costs jumped by a whopping 15% in July along with annual municipal rates increases, money needs to stretch even further,” Jacobs said.
“What’s more, not everyone has returned to their pre-Covid-19 salaries, and many have lost jobs and livelihoods due to the pandemic, making it even more critical to take a good, hard look at every cost that is incurred to see where savings can be made.”
Many banks charge for the following:
- Overdraft protection – Banks charge overdraft protection fees for honouring charges that exceed the amount in a customer’s bank account.
- Bank transfer – A fee charged for the transfer of money from one bank to another bank.
- ATM access – Fees for using other banks’ ATM machines.
- Maintenance – Fees charged by the month or year for the maintenance of an account.
Tips to keep banking fees low:
- Don’t withdraw often.
- Use your own bank’s ATMs because transactions at another bank’s ATM will come at a higher cost.
- Go digital. Online banking and banking apps are much cheaper than going into a branch.
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