I happened to look at

Jun 19, 2001

I happened to look at our bank statement last night, in search of a purchase I made at our local Wild Oats Market one night recently. Their debit connection was down, so I made my purchase with my bank card as a Visa, but immediately wondered what kind of fee I would incur. A perusal of the statement showed that Erin and I have paid more than $50 in the last 6 months for fees to use our debit card at grocery stores, gas stations and other “point of sale” locations. All this time, we thought the use of the debit card was free. I dug up the bank account details, and discovered that the “pos” purchases are free—as long as the balance of the account is $2400. And the fee went up 50 percent last month, from $1 to $1.50! Erin has taught me to be fanatically opposed to paying these exorbitant fees, so we were chagrined to see our inattentive mistake. Are you aware of your bank fees? Here’s a web page with tips

Anton Zuiker ☄