Have you ever wondered what secrets banks are keeping from you? Tune in to this episode of the Ask Ralph Show with Ralph Estep Jr. as he talks about bank secrets that could cost you money. What are 10 things that banks don’t want you to know which could cost you money? With Ralph Estep, Jr.

In this episode of the Ask Ralph show, host Ralph Estep Jr. discusses a revealing article from a bank teller's perspective, exposing 10 secrets banks don't want customers to know. He covers topics such as the importance of reading the fine print, the difficulties of closing accounts, hidden fees in 'free' checking accounts, the benefits of credit unions, and the pitfalls of overdraft protection. He provides actionable steps to save money, including reviewing bank statements, negotiating with banks, and setting up account alerts.

00:00 Episode Overview

00:52 Listener's Question

02:16 Bible Verse

02:50 10 Things Banks Don't Want You to Know

05:36 Personal Story: From Bank to Credit Union

11:56 Actionable Steps to Save Money

15:17 Conclusion: Reflecting on September 11th

Article mentioned in the show

Prior show about debit cards

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[00:00:10] Ralph Estep, Jr.: And it's a great article. I want to discuss it on today's show. I'm going to show you how these hidden things can dramatically impact your banking relationship, and it trickles down to your personal and business finances. So join me tonight as I get into the 10, yesterday I promised five, but I'm actually going to give you ten things that the bank doesn't want you to know.

[00:00:52] Ralph Estep, Jr.: Well, we got a great question from Linda. Linda wrote this. She said, “Dear Ralph, I've been banking with the same institution for over 20 years, but lately I'm feeling like I'm not getting the best deal. The people working in the branch seems like they're more interested in selling me products than really working to meet my financial needs. They're also so impersonal these days, I feel like I'm just a number. Are there things I should be watching out for?

[00:01:41] Ralph Estep, Jr.: Well welcome, I want to thank you for joining me on your journey. You know, you've got a limited amount of time, so I really appreciate the fact that you've taken time to listen to the show. It's Wacky Wednesday! Now I'm not going to get too wacky today because we're going to be talking about ways to save you money, about things that you didn't know about at the bank. So one of the things I'm going to do right now is I'm going to encourage you to go to our website again, that's askralph.com and check it out.

[00:02:16] Ralph Estep, Jr.: Well, let's start with a word from scripture. You know, I always like to get started with something to give us some grounding, and this comes to us from Proverbs 22:7. It tells us this:

[00:02:50] Ralph Estep, Jr.: So let me jump right to it. There was an article written by her name is Laura Beck. It appeared on finance.yahoo.com and the name of the article was “I’m a Bank Teller: 10 Things Banks Don’t Want You to Know About Getting Rich,” and I thought this was an excellent article.

[00:03:19] Ralph Estep, Jr.: So this is a fantastic article from the perspective of the people who really know what's going on. Because guess what? The people on the upper floors of the banks and the credit unions. They might know what's going on. But the people in the trenches, those tellers? They really know what's going on. And the first thing she mentioned here is read over everything. Yeah, I'll say that again.

[00:03:57] Ralph Estep, Jr.: That's a legal binding document. And if you sign it, you're agreeing to it. So if something doesn't make sense, ask questions. It's your money. You're setting up this relationship with the bank. You got to understand what's happened with it.

[00:04:24] Ralph Estep, Jr.: You know, you think if you open a bank account, it's pretty simple to close it. Like just walk in there, withdraw your money and walk away. But she puts in here and I'm a quote, it says, “But some banks require you to come in person, fill out forms or even pay a closing fee.” And here's the problem she alludes to this.

[00:04:56] Ralph Estep, Jr.: isn't really free. You know, I think my grandfather used to say that, you know, why not? Nothing in life is free. So what she says here is be careful with free checking accounts. That's the truth. It's not free. First of all, usually, when you look under the hood, you read that fine print we talked about earlier.

[00:05:36] Ralph Estep, Jr.: So this is a great time to tell you about my story. Now, when I was right out of college, I got a job interview with one of these big commercial banks here in Wilmington. And I'll tell you what, man, it was great. They took me for an interview. I saw this beautiful building, you know, they promised me a big corner office, and I was just getting started. But they were really looking for accounting professionals.

[00:06:13] Ralph Estep, Jr.: And I said, oh, wait a second. And I thought to myself, do I really want to be a salesman? That really wasn't what I was trying to do. So, I continued looking for a new job, and I came across this article, you know, this one ad for a job at a credit union. And to be honest with you, I had no idea what a credit union even was. So I went to this interview.

[00:06:46] Ralph Estep, Jr.: I'm thinking, wow, I'm going to be working for the president. At the time, I guess he was the ex-president. Well, obviously, it wasn't the president—just another guy named George Bush. But really. So, I went in, did that interview, and I found that, you know, there really is a difference with working at credit unions, and that's all I work with now.

[00:07:23] Ralph Estep, Jr.: So if you're going to get a loan or open up a bank account, check with your local credit union. Well, let's move on to what else she says here in the article. And that is you have no overdraft protection. This is so very true. It says right here, banks make it sound like overdraft protection is doing you a favor, but it can be really expensive.

[00:08:05] Ralph Estep, Jr.: You've got to actually contact the bank and opt out of that, so that you don't get nailed with those fees when your balance is low. Well, let's move on to the next thing. The next thing she says here is savings rates shift overnight. This is something a lot of people don't understand. They lock into that bank.

[00:08:34] Ralph Estep, Jr.: what the credit union has to offer, and look for ways to make your money grow. Maybe that's opening a high-yield savings account or a money market account. I see so many people just park that money in a simple savings account, or even worse, they park that money in a checking account that's paying zero interest.

[00:09:19] Ralph Estep, Jr.: And I don't know how many times when I was working at a credit union, I would see a member use their debit card, and the next thing you know, they had a check presented and over drafted their account because a hotel or rental car agency had put a hold on their account. So you've got to be aware of that. I'm not a big fan of using debit cards.

[00:09:52] Ralph Estep, Jr.: If you open up an account at a bank, a lot of times you need to read the fine print. It says that they are able to share your information with third parties. Now, how many times have you been sitting at home, you go out to the mailbox, open it up, and you just opened up a new account at the bank?

[00:10:25] Ralph Estep, Jr.: isn't always smart. Now, what she's getting at here is, if you think you're paying off a loan early because it's a good thing—because you paid it off, right? It shortened your payment history. Well, that's good and bad. Yes, financially, it's going to save you interest, but it also cuts into your credit score because you don't have that longer credit history.

[00:11:01] Ralph Estep, Jr.: I remember the teller would roll it out on certain days of the week, and this thing probably weighed, I don't know, it was on wheels, weighed a couple hundred pounds. And the thing you need to understand is a lot of banks will charge you for bringing in your change, but what you don't know is that they're actually making money on that because, guess what? If they've got to order change from the Federal Reserve, you know, their money deliveries—a lot of people don't understand the backside of that.

[00:11:44] Ralph Estep, Jr.: So look for opportunities to do that for free. A lot of local credit unions here in Delaware actually offer that service for free. So you might be asking, “Ralph, why in the world does any of this matter to me?” Well, it matters because a lot of people, as the writer of the letter today said, you know, they've been with their banks for 20 years.

[00:12:18] Ralph Estep, Jr.: Look at those recurring fees and question them. I've had clients that did not even realize that they were getting charged monthly fees of $10, $20, $30, $50. I actually had one client that wasn't paying attention, and their banking fees were well over $150 a month. That's just money out of your pocket. It's $1,800 a year.

[00:12:56] Ralph Estep, Jr.: They don't even have tellers. And some of them even charge you for tellers. I was amazed to find that out. One of the local banks, I was looking at their prospectus, you know, their schedule of fees, and they actually had a fee if you wanted to talk to a teller. I'm thinking, that's insane. You want me to do business with your bank,

[00:13:31] Ralph Estep, Jr.: They may be willing to reduce interest rates. I know when I worked at the credit union, the president of the credit union—his name was Tom—and I had a really good relationship. This was back in, I want to say, it was, let’s see, 1997, 1998. Interest rates were kind of in flux.

[00:14:02] Ralph Estep, Jr.: So if you came in off the street, you were one of our members, and you were looking to renew your certificate of deposit, you could actually go to Tom and negotiate a better rate because he wanted to keep those funds deposited with the credit union, as compared to you taking them to one of these big commercial banks.

[00:14:35] Ralph Estep, Jr.: They're getting charged. They're charging you to take your money out of their bank. So think about this: you're paying a monthly service fee to be a member of the bank, then they're charging you to take your money out. If you're meeting with a teller, they're charging you another fee. This has gotten insane. And the last thing I'm going to recommend you do is set up account alerts. These account alerts, instead of getting charged with that $35 fee, a lot of these banks and credit unions will actually let you set up what I call a low-balance alert.

[00:15:20] Ralph Estep, Jr.: today is September 11th. And it seems like it was so long ago, but on this solemn anniversary, I want to remember the thousands of Americans who lost their lives in those terrorist attacks in 2001. Their sacrifice reminds us of the preciousness of life. And it reminds us of the importance of coming together as a community. And it feels like today we've lost that.

[00:16:00] Ralph Estep, Jr.: Well, today we uncovered 10 things that banks didn’t want you to know from the perspective of a teller. So I'm just telling you right now, there might be better options out there. I gave you some actionable steps for ways to save you money. Remember, as I always say, knowledge is power when it comes to your finances.

[00:16:35] Ralph Estep, Jr.: I can help you reach your goals. And all you've got to do is schedule an appointment with me. You can do that right at askralphpodcast.com/store. And I do charge a $150 consultation fee, but I'm going to tell you right now, if you do that, you will get three times the value because I can work with you. I can help you improve your financials.

[00:17:13] Ralph Estep, Jr.: That is why I do what I do. That's why I sit down in front of this microphone every day. I want to help you get ahead. I want to help you master your finances. I want you to live out your dreams, and I want you to grow in your faith. And I know that working together, we can master your finances from that Christian perspective. So, as I always end the show, I want you to stay financially savvy, and may God bless you.