Times Of Change

Compared to a credit card, debit cards are safer in tendency of debt junkie issues. They constrain the amount of your expenditures on how much you have in your account. On the other hand debit cards sometimes creates a problem, these are called overdraft charges.

What is a debit card overdraft?

Debit card overdraft is an act or instance of overdrawing a checking account. These are credits provided by a bank in honoring a customer’s overdraft.

How could we avoid these overdraft fees?

• You should not be fooled by online statements that indicate the amount in your bank account.
• Balance your checkbooks just like the old days when you are doing paper checks.
• Always keep track on what you are spending. Remember to set aside the receipts and record of each ATM withdrawals.
• For students, ask your parents to be co-owners of your debit card accounts.
• Always keep an extra fund for your account and if you are purchasing gasoline consider paying cash than using your debit card.

Ways on how to stop overdraft charges:

• Prevent overdraft charges by removing the bank overdraft protection feature from your debit card account.
• Use the balance inquiry function at the ATM if the bank that you are in transaction with offers it.
• Ask your banks customer service representative if they offer warning services that sends messages on your mobile or an e-mail message stating your account balance when it fall below a certain level.
• Consider applying for a different form of protection overdraft that allows you to link a secondary savings account to your main account.
If you have noticed that you have been paying overdraft fees lately please follow the tips above. These may help you in eliminating those overdraft fees. Allowing one or two withdrawal slips through could result to an overdraft especially when your account balance is low.