Bloodshed on the current account: who pays

A little bit because of the epidemic, a little bit because of the advancement of the technological process, in the past year there has been a boom in online operations with Current accounts: That is why, in fact, management costs have increased more than what happens in bank branches.

Increments: +15%

The bitter surprise was revealed through an investigation conducted by Other consumption which investigated informational materials on current account expenditures of 20 Italian banks and analyzed changes compared to the situation in 2020. The study investigated in detail the investigation Three features The type of account holders other than those defined by the Bank of Italy: young people, families with medium operations, and seniors with medium operations. Thus, it appears that the costs of checking accounts with online operations have increased until then 15th% Whereas, for over-the-counter accounts, a fairly stable trend appears with a slight savings for young people (1%) and a slight increase for families and seniors (2% and 3%). The annual average for branch operations is 134 euros and 87 for online operations: even if the number is lower, however, we clearly remember the increase, which is +15%.

What are the costs to consider

There are some in the expense account installed and others VariablesFixed costs include the monthly checking account fee and the annual debit and credit card fee, if requested by the same bank. Then there are the securities account management costs and the interest settlement costs that banks apply at the end of the year to draw the amounts between inventories, interest income, and interest expense. Finally, there are the connection costs (for account data and transparent communications) and home banking fees. Not all banks charge all of these costs, and in some cases they may all be zero.

Variable costs, as the word itself says, depend on operations What you do: We have wire transfer commissions, those applicable to withdrawals at other bank branches and those for Cbill or PagoPA payments. In general, the more operations you perform, the higher these costs will be.
The other expense component consists of commissions and interest on overdrafts: the money the bank demands from you when you go down. The alternative is a line of credit (the amount the bank provides you with in addition to your balance) that you are still charged for. Finally, don’t forget to file taxes: Flat stamp fee of €34.20 per year on average shares over €5,000 and withholding tax of 26% on any interest accrued.

How to contain them

Altrokonsumo also provided some Advice Which can be useful for monitoring and trying to contain your accounts costs: read the “Summary of Expenses” sent by the bank at the beginning of the year to understand which and how many transactions took place in the previous year and how much they cost; withdraw cash only from ATMs of your bank to avoid commissions; It is still cheaper to work online with home banking than to go to the counter (we saw the costs at the beginning of the article); The overdraft current account has high costs: whoever goes into the red should ask for a credit line from the bank.

Then again, to avoidtax fee You should not leave too much cash in the account altogether because it is important to choose the bank that is most suitable for each product: Credit card, mortgage, and loans can also be subscribed elsewhere, without the obligation to open an account with the bank that gives them. Finally, always check the bank’s communications: in the event of material changes in the terms, it may be appropriate to close the account on the old terms within 60 days and move to another place.