Bank Fit Scorecard: What Your Bank Costs You a Year, and the Account That Fits
Most bank "reviews" are rankings paid for by the banks on them. This scorecard asks a different question: what does your current setup cost you, and what kind of account would stop the leak? Enter your fees and habits to see a yearly total, the part you could avoid and a checklist for switching.
Take the numbers from your last few statements. The scorecard names no banks and quotes no rates; it adds up what your setup costs and describes the kind of account that fits.
Your money and fees
How you bank
| Cost | A year | Avoidable |
|---|
Switching checklist
How the Scorecard Works
It adds up a year of what your current setup costs: twelve months of the maintenance fee, your out-of-network ATM withdrawals times what each one costs, your overdraft and returned-payment fees, the foreign transaction fee on what you spend abroad or in other currencies, any other bank fees you enter and, if you enter a savings rate you could get, the interest your savings balance is missing.
Fee leakage is the part a different account setup can remove: maintenance, ATM, overdraft and foreign transaction fees, and missed interest. Other fees, such as wires, are counted in the cost but not as leakage, because most accounts charge for them.
The account profile comes from how you bank. Weekly cash deposits or monthly branch visits point to a local credit union or community bank with free checking, with online savings alongside it. Otherwise an online bank or credit union fits, with a plan for cash if you deposit it now and then. Your ATM use, overdraft history, travel and balances add specific features to look for.
Reading the Result
The example, a $15 monthly fee, three out-of-network ATM withdrawals a month at $5, two $35 overdrafts and $1,500 of foreign card spending at 3%, costs $475 a year, about $40 a month, and every dollar of it is avoidable. Enter a savings rate you could get and the missed interest on your savings is added: with $10,000 in savings, each percentage point of rate you are missing costs $100 a year.
If your leakage is close to zero, your bank already fits and switching would gain you little. If it is more than a few hundred dollars a year, the checklist shows how to move without missing a payment.
What the Scorecard Leaves Out
It does not rate or name banks, compare interest rates or check any account's terms, and it cannot know whether a bank near you offers what the profile describes. It counts foreign transaction fees but not currency conversion markups, and it leaves out the value of services such as in-person help, notary or safe deposit boxes, and the time switching takes. Missed interest is counted only if you enter a rate you could get.