Bounced Check Fees are Ridiculous!

We’ve all been there at one time or another… reading your bank statement when you notice that there’s an overdraft charge. Maybe you had an unexpected bill payment or you just weren’t able to make a deposit in time. Whatever the reason, it’s frustrating because it feels like you might as well be throwing money out the window. Perhaps there’s even two or three of those overdraft fees on your statement, which could add up to a lot of money debited from your account at the end of the month.

There’s a good reason why you may have been feeling the financial crunch lately from overdraft charges. According to bankrate.com, the 2006 Checking Survey found that bounced check, or non-sufficient funds fees hit a record high of $27.40!

What this boils down to is that the fees associated with a bounced check are even higher than a payday loan finance charge. Payday loans have often gained a bad reputation for giving quick loans with insanely expensive finance charges. But the finance charges associated with the payday loan industry are not as expensive as you may have once thought.

For example, let’s take a $100 payday loan with a fee of $9.31 and an APR of 243%. That’s a rate typically offered to new customers, now compare that to a $100 bounced check with a fee of $27.40 and an APR of 714%! When you look at those figures, it just might make sense to apply for a quick cash advance to get you through until your next payday, rather than bounce a check.