It is a welcome development that over 70 million of Nigerians have one or two accounts with commercial banks across the country. But it is a great concern for accountants and auditors that over 80 per cent of this number accrue several avoidable charges on their accounts.
As such, avoiding a handful of bank charges could prevent one from incurring debt, especially in an era of economic meltdown.
To avoid excess/illegal bank charges and save more, keep track of your expenses by monitoring every deduction made by your bank from your account.
EXPERTS’ ADVISE
A chartered accountant, Mr. Wale Adeniji, advised account holders to avoid maintenance fee on all customer-induced debit transactions by using more of savings account.
“The best way to avoid this charge is for you to open a savings account because such account does not incur charges. A transfer between a savings and a current account owned by the same person in a particular bank will not incur any charges.
“Be mindful of overdraft fees. It is better not to have an overdraft because it is a kind of a small loan but if you make a transaction that exceeds what you have in your current or savings account, you may be charged an overdraft fee.
“Alternatively, what you can do to avoid charges on your overdraft is to have a concession with your bank. This means that you request for a reduction in your charges. Instead of paying six per cent on your overdraft, your bank may reduce it to two per cent charge. Although your bank may give a condition in order for you to have a reduced charge,” he explained.
Adeniji also advised depositors to take advantage of both online and mobile banking in order to access account balance information anytime, almost anywhere, in case of infraction. “Remember to factor in recent transactions that haven’t appeared yet when determining your balance. A wise way of doing that is by setting up alerts may be via SMS or E-mails on your accounts to help you track your balance, expenses and deductions.
“If you have multiple bank accounts, you may be incurring fees on each account. You may want to consider merging your accounts, or check what the minimum balance for the account is to ensure you don’t incur unnecessary fees.”
Another chartered accountant, Ms. Ayobami Awokunle, urged bank customers to check the fees and charges deducted from their accounts. According to her, most depositors tend to focus on overdraft fees, monthly maintenance fees and ATM fees alone because they are the most common.
“It is very prudent to watch out for other hidden charges by keeping tabs on other ways your bank may force you to pay for charges. Transfer fees, paper statement fees, checkcashing fees, returned deposit fees, excess transaction fees, minimum balance fees, and foreign transaction fees are among the most common on a lengthy list of ways your bank rip you off.
“If you are charged a fee that you feel is unfair, you have nothing to lose by heading to the bank and chatting with a manager to see whether you can get it refunded. This is an especially good tactic if you have multiple accounts with your bank,” she added.
Awokunle insisted that it is very important to be smart about using Automated Teller Machine cards to withdraw outside one’s bank in order to avoid paying N65 at every withdrawal after the third transaction.
“The simplest way to avoid ATM fees is to use your own bank machine whenever possible. To make it easier, research the location of your bank’s ATMs since most ATMs are installed inside or near most bank premises,” she said.
