Second Chance Checking

Banks are aware that a lot of people get into sticky situations and get trapped in a flood of non sufficient funds fees. These fees can often times be unfair and multiply like crazy. When you get a new account with a bank you have not had problems with in the past, you need to make sure you do not let any mistakes happen. Your checking account needs to stay well above zero dollars. Not only do you want to avoid getting NSF fees that can burn your pay check quickly, you want to make sure you do not lose your new second chance checking account. If you had problems with getting NSF fees, one way to prevent a mountain of them from happening is to not use your debit card for small purchases. Often times it is hard to track your balance when you are making a lot of small charges with your debit card. You should use cash to pay for small things like coffee, food, etc. It is okay to use your debit card for large purchases. When you are using cash it is a lot easier to keep track of how much you have spent, and you cannot overspend into the negative if you are only using cash for the small expenses. Banks make a lot of money with overdraft fees that customers pay, and you do not want to be one of those customers. Banks make a huge amount of money off of fees. When you go into the negative in your checking account, they consider that negative balance a loan. Each transaction that goes through your account while it is negative will generate a NSF fee. It has been said that banks have made up to 3000% on these “loans” when a checking account goes into the negative.

The goal with your second chance banking is to avoid these fees. Of course these fees are unfair and insane, but until something changes we will have to play by these rules. It should not have to be like this, but it is what it is. Think on the defensive side to make sure your second chance checking account is not going to be close to having a zero balance. Save a few hundred or more if you can in your checking account. If you have extra money in your savings account, you might want to just keep it in your checking account. Banks make the “overdraft protection” sound like a good thing, but it is just a scheme to get you to feel comfortable with getting your checking account below zero and charging you insane fees. Managing your money like a hawk is going to benefit you in the long run with your second chance banking account.