Bank of America started it all with their ridiculous $5/month fee to access your own cash by using a debit card and customers reacted by moving to credit unions or online banks like PerkStreet or Ally Bank. Verizon followed up with a fee for paying your cell phone bill online and customers cried “FOUL” so loudly that the company quickly backed down. It seems that companies, like governments, are obsessed with finding new ways to extract additional cash from customers and citizens.

There’s nothing wrong with getting your customers to give you more money … so long as you provide them with more value. Where these two giants erred was that the customer got nothing in return. Customers will gladly fork over more cash when the product or service warrants it. But when a big company tries to squeeze blood from a turnip (it’s a Southern saying!), well, that dog don’t hunt (another Southern saying!).

These two situations made me think about other potential epic fails giant corporations conceivably could use to pad their bottom line. But if you’re an officer in one of these companies, use these potential “fees” at your own risk!

Potential epic fail fees

• Walmart – a $2 fee for using their parking lot for 15 minutes … additional hours are 50 cents each
• The Home Depot – a $3 fee to get home improvement advice … $25 for advice that actually works
• Chase Bank – a $4 fee to breathe the air conditioning in their branches
• AT&T Wireless – one cent fee every time you use the “4″ key on your phone
• State Farm Homeowner’s Insurance – $250 to file a claim
• Olive Garden – a $1.25 fee for a napkin and 50 cents for utensils or $2 for both!
• TicketMaster – a fee for “will call” tickets, a fee to email tickets, and a fee to snail mail your tickets (oh, wait … )
• ExxonMobil – a $3 fee to use their gas pumps
• Walgreens – a $5 fee to have your prescription filled by a real pharmacist
• Johnson & Johnson – a $1 fee for the security packaging on over the counter medications
• The Gap – a $2 fee to use their changing rooms
• Starbucks – 50 cents for one of those little cup jackets that prevents hand burns
• Foot Locker – $1 for shoelaces
• Kroger – $2 (non-refundable) to use a shopping cart
• McDonald’s – 75 cents for each child to use PlayLand

All this is, of course, tongue in cheek, but would any of these “fees” surprise you?

Why do companies add fees without adding value?

Companies add fees without adding value because

1. They’re low on cash
2. They’re programmed to generate more and more profit
3. They’ve grown out of touch with their customers
4. The fee is so small for each individual that the company believes no one will notice
5. They’ve pushed themselves into a cost structure that isn’t maintainable

That last one is why banks like PerkStreet is growing by leaps and bounds. With no branch costs, they’re able to offer outstanding rewards and benefits that other banks just cannot match.

There is NO LIMIT to the rewards you can earn with a PerkStreet checking account!

Do you know what it costs to operate a branch bank? I formerly worked at a very large bank and I can tell you, the expenses were huge. First there’s payroll for three to six tellers, two or three loan officers, an assistant branch manager, the branch manager, and possibly a security guard. Then there’s the cost of building and maintaining the building, it’s electronics, it’s computers, the vault, the drive through windows, the insurance, the landscaping, the ATM machine, utilities, taxes, runners to pick up the paperwork, office supplies, and then there’s the bad loan expense.

By operating primarily online, PerkStreet avoids many of these expenses and by doing so, can offer you and other customers the outstanding rewards and perks that leave other banks just shaking their heads in disbelief.

Does PerkStreet have any fees?

Of course. But their fees are very few and they make sense. There are fees associated with overdrawing your account or bouncing a check, as well as stop payment fees and wire transfer fees. There’s also a fee for using an ATM outside of their network but with over 42,000 free ATMs, why would you?

You can avoid most PerkStreet fees by simply:

• Signing up for overdraft protection
• Using your account at least once per month
• Staying inside their 42,000+ strong ATM network

When you consider that the average family can easily earn $600 or more each year in cash back rewards without incurring any additional debt, PerkStreet just makes good sense.

Sign up for PerkStreet’s checking account here!

Links to products or services may be affiliate links. See my disclosure policy on the site or on my About page.

Did you use a credit card this past Christmas? You are not alone. On average, people spend almost $1,000 on Christmas while carrying credit card debt of $9,000 to $12,000! So chances are better than even that most, if not all, of that $1,000 was on credit. What about you? Did you go deeper into debt this past Christmas?

How to beat your Christmas debt

First of all, don’t beat yourself up. Wanting to spend money to buy presents for family or friends isn’t a character flaw. Let’s look at a few ways to beat your Christmas debt and make plans to insure that next year’s Christmas is debt free.

1. Sell some excess stuff

Opportunities are all over the place from Craigslist to eBay to auction sites galore. Don’t neglect your local newspaper though … ours allows you to list any item free if its prices is less than $100.

2. Make some extra money

I’ve written several articles about making extra money:

• 26 Ways To Make Extra Money And Keep Your Day Job
• New Ways to Earn Extra Money
• 10 Businesses You Can Start for Peanuts (or less!)
• Need Extra Cash? There Are Only 4 Ways to Get It
• Mining the Miners: A Different Way to Make Money

So long as you use the extra cash you make to pay down your Christmas debt, you’ll be able to beat it. The problem is always that we want to spend what we see as “excess” cash.

Don’t.

As soon as you receive any extra money, use it as soon as possible to pay down your debt.

3. Move your credit card debt to a zero interest card

The best option here is The Discover More Card because of their “long duration balance transfer” — zero interest for up to 18 months! You can make a lot of progress on credit card debt when there’s no interest involved.

4. LOWER your interest with a peer-to-peer lending company

Your two options are:

• Prosper
• Lending Club

Both offer rates better than your average credit card and both have moved from mere curiosities to lending powerhouses. Lending Club will loan over $250 million in 2012 and Prosper will lend $70 million. Both claim that the vast majority of their borrowers use the money to pay down their credit card debt. You really aren’t alone!

Rates for borrowers are LOWER than you can believe! Check out Prosper HERE!

5. Take on an extra job

Kind of a yucky option, but it’s one you may have to consider if you want to beat that Christmas debt.

6. Move your checking account to PerkStreet

PerkStreet is a checking account that pays you debit card rewards similar to credit card rewards. Paying you up to 2% on all your non-pin debit card purchases can mean an additional $600 or more to you for next Christmas. For a huge number of PerkStreet customers, Christmas of 2011 didn’t mean debt because they used their debit card rewards to pay for it.

Move YOUR checking account to PerkStreet and make certain that Christmas 2012 is debt free … paid for by debit card rewards from your PerkStreet checking account.

7. Save a tiny amount from each paycheck in an online savings account

I use two main banks for my online savings:

• Ally Bank
• ING Direct

No matter how small the amount, saving just a little from each paycheck for next Christmas will mean less stress in a few short months. It’s like a gift you give yourself. Set it up to be automatic and you’ll never miss that cash.

Make the right choices now

By taking a few minutes to make some changes now, next year your Christmas can be a lot more enjoyable … and it can be completely debt free.

Links to products or services may be affiliate links. See my disclosure policy on the site or on my About page.

What did you get when you opened your checking account? When I opened my primary checking account, I didn’t even get free checks. I didn’t get a toaster. And I surely didn’t get any free cash. Cash back? I would’ve been laughed out of the bank.

That’s why PerkStreet is not your ordinary checking account. Not only does the company give you debit card rewards of up to 2% of your non-pin purchases (read Why Do I Get Rewarded For Non-Pin Debit Card Purchases?) but now through December 31, 2011 you’ll also get $25 deposited into your account if you use your debit card just three times within 30 days after opening the account!

When’s the last time YOUR bank said thank you … with something tangible?

On top of this $25 bonus cash back, you’ll earn 2% cash back on ALL non-PIN purchases for your first 3 months. After 3 months, you’ll earn at least 1% cash back and up to 2% cash back depending on your account balance. Either way, no other debit card offers more cash back than PerkStreet.

Sign up TODAY and you’ll be able to earn 2% cash back on your holiday purchases and on those inevitably great post-holiday sales.

PLUS PerkStreet has a habit of offering 5% cash back in certain categories throughout the year. This is a checking account like no other!

Offer Details:
Three easy steps to receive your $25 cash back bonus:

• Apply for your account online by 11:59PM EST, December 31, 201.
• Fund the account with $25 or more.
• Use your card to make 3 purchases within 30 days of opening your account.

PerkStreet will credit $25 to your Perks Account within 10 business days of your third purchase. This great offer expires at 11:59 PM EST, December 31, 2011. PerkStreet may modify or cancel this offer at any time.

Links to products or services may be affiliate links. See my disclosure policy on the site or on my About page.

It seems there’s just no end to the the big bank’s greed and when a bank imposes fees that overdraw an account, I personally feel the need to say something. As an MBA, a corporate officer for a large company, and a self-professed capitalist, I understand a bank’s need to cover its costs. I “get it” when a bank has to charge a fee to customers who overdraw their account or exceed their credit limit. But when a bank imposes a “low balance” fee on an account and overdraws it as a result … and then charges a fee for being overdrawn every day for two weeks … something just isn’t right.

I worked for a big bank

Many people don’t know this about me, but I used to work for a large bank in the collections department. It was a soul-sucking job that forced me to cultivate my cynical side and made me realize that people just don’t realize what they’re agreeing to when they sign some papers at a bank. NOTHING you sign at a bank is designed to protect you or your interests. EVERYTHING you sign is designed to protect the bank and its interests.

You can “bank” on it.

So, I read with a lot of interest about an 18 year old whose mother tried to teach him about banking and he wound up learning that lesson the hard way. He only had $4.85 in his savings account but the bank saw fit to hit him with a $9.95 fee for having a low balance … which overdrew his account. The bank then found it necessary to charge him an additional $28 per day to teach him a lesson. He found out about it when the account was in the negative to the tune of $229.10. When he and his mother went to the local branch to close the account, they were told they had to bring the account current first. You can read the whole story here.

Fine print is the problem

Should the family in the story have read all the fine print? Of course. Should they have realized that having a low balance would trigger a fee? No question. The real question in my mind is:

Should the bank have had such a ridiculous policy in the first place?

I understand a company’s need to design policies that protect its interests. I get it, really. But when those policies go beyond protecting a company’s interests and actually do harm to an individual, those policies need to change.

This is one reason why I promote PerkStreet, ING Direct, and Ally Bank. Are any of these three banks perfect? No, of course not, but they all three have a much stronger slant (in my opinion anyway) toward the customer. If you want to check them out individually, you can do so here:

• PerkStreet
• ING Direct
• Ally Bank

Links to products or services may be affiliate links. See my disclosure policy on the site or on my About page.

In times past, one of the best ways to take a well-defended city was with a good old fashioned siege, essentially, starving the city of either food or water. Now many people want to lay siege to the big-boy bailout banks but to do so, you’ll have to starve them of cash … something the “Occupy” protestors obviously don’t understand.

To starve the big banks, it’s essential to understand how a bank makes money. Banks primarily make money through:

1. Fees
2. Interest charged to borrowers

Banks make money with FEES

Some fees I understand like overdraft fees, or out-of-network ATM fees. Most other fees are beyond ridiculous. For example, some banks (like Chase) charge a fee if you cash a check drawn on a Chase account if YOU don’t have an account there. Then there’s monthly “service” fees, minimum balance fees, and the infamous “debit card usage fee” that most banks had to rescind once the outrage bubbled to the surface.

Most online banks don’t have these ridiculous fees. One of the best banks for avoiding fees AND getting credit card type rewards is PerkStreet.

Two other banks you could consider are Ally Bank and the ING Electric Orange checking account.

So, if you want to stick it to the big banks, your first step is to STOP depositing money and allowing them to charge those you those fees (ridiculous or otherwise). Instead set up an account at PerkStreet and start getting rewarded when you spend your own money rather than get penalized!

Sign up for a PerkStreet REWARDS checking account here!

Banks make money charging interest to borrowers

Interest is the most common way most people believe a bank makes money. It’s true, the majority of their money comes from interest earned on the loans they make. But if you want to lay siege to the big-boy bailout banks, consider turning to peer-to-peer lending companies such as Prosper or Lending Club.

But did you know a bank can “create” money out of thin air?

Let’s say you deposit $1,000 into a bank. According to banking regulations, that bank only has to keep 10% of that money in reserve. Statistically speaking, people don’t withdraw more than 10% of their balance on any given day. So what happens to the other $900? The bank lends it. Then, when the borrower buys a product, the merchant deposits that $900 and the bank then lends out $810. Repeating this operation over and over means that the bank has loans outstanding of $8,852.50! At 10% interest, the bank makes almost $900 on your $1,000 deposit verses just $100. That’s how a bank makes lots money (the same principle applies to taxes).

To starve the big banks of cash, don’t borrow from them! Your rates are MUCH better at Prosper anyway!

Rates for Prosper borrowers are LOWER than banks! Check out Prosper HERE!

Banks make money in many ways

Fees and interest are just two of the many ways a bank makes money but they are the cornerstone of their financial lifeline. If your bank’s fees or high interest charges have ticked you off for the last time, consider making a move. Changing banks isn’t difficult! And it’s extremely easy to borrow money from Prosper.

Links to products or services may be affiliate links. See my disclosure policy on the site or on my About page.