Hack 6 · Savings Foundations
Bank Fee Audit
A bank fee audit is a quarterly scan of your statements for maintenance charges, overdraft fees, and other small deductions, followed by a phone call asking for them back. Banks reverse these routinely for customers who simply ask. Most people who run the audit recover $50 to $200 a year and often stop the fees recurring at all.
How to do it
- Scan a full statement for every charge that is not a purchase you made.
- Call your bank and politely ask for the fees to be reversed.
- Ask what account change would stop the fee recurring, then make it.
What it typically saves
Typically $50 to $200 a year recovered, plus the fees you stop repeating.
Questions people ask
Will the bank actually refund me?
Often yes, especially on a first request or a good account history. Asking costs nothing but a phone call.
How often should I check?
Once a quarter is enough to catch new fees without becoming a chore. Set a recurring reminder so it does not depend on you remembering.
What if they refuse?
Ask what it would take to waive it going forward, such as a different account tier or a direct deposit. If nothing works, that is useful information about the bank.
Go deeper
This is the short version. The full walkthrough lives in Stop Losing Money, book 1 of The Everyday Money Upgrade — where this hack comes with the fee-by-fee checklist, the exact call script that gets reversals approved, and how to switch accounts when a bank will not budge.
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