We’ve all been there. You’re in a store, you get your items together and you proceed through the check out line. The total would have been closer to $65, but you were diligent and brought in coupons to save a few additional dollars, keeping the total to around $50. Good for you! You pay for your items and walk out with a smile on your face.
Life is good… except for one small thing. You just paid $50.00 too much!
Why? An inadvertent error on your behalf caused your checking account to be overdrawn. By the time the dust settles your financial institution will charge you around $25 (or more) for the lack of funds and the store may charge you an additional $25. On top of the fee’s you probably also face being put on the stores “check writing” offender list.
This is a really expensive error and we’ve all been there, so let’s discuss how you can ensure it doesn’t happen again.
The best thing to do is have your savings account set up to cover your checking account and/or establish a preferred line of credit. If used, the cost of both is a few pennies in interest compared to making the same $50 mistake again.
One more thing you should do is set up a checking account protection plan, better known as overdraft. Truliant’s program is called CheckProtect and will pay your checks, debit cards and most other payments drawn against the unavailable funds in your checking account.
One great aspect of ChecProtect is that it’s absolutely free (no sign-up costs) unless you use it; when you do, it still saves you the expense you would have incurred without the added protection.
There’s one other great thing I need to tell you about ChecProtect. It’s 100% opt-in. That simply means that you have to sign up for it; we don’t automatically enroll you like some other financial institutions. Not only is this consumer friendly, but it allows us to clearly discuss the fees associated with the program so there won’t be any surprises.
My goal with this post isn’t to push a product on you, but I do want to help save you from the embarrassment of being declined at the check out counter, or the hefty fees previously mentioned.
About the Author: Troy Martens is the vice president of consumer and real estate lending for Truliant.
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