8 Bank Secrets No One Will Tell You About

If you go to any bank and sit with a teller or call the call center and inquire about some products most bank employees won’t cover all the details you need to know. Here are ten secrets even bank employees won’t tell you:

1- Savings Accounts have fees and these fees will show in your account statements

2- There's a difference between the minimum amount to open an account and the minimum amount to earn interest. For example, to open an account you might need a minimum of 1,000LE but to earn interest you might need a minimum of 5,000LE.

3- Banks might try to convince you to insure your credit card, this is an unnecessary expense and mostly only benefits the bank.

4- The grace period in which you can pay your credit card doesn’t start from the date of your purchase but from the start of the month according to the bank. So always check with your bank what they consider the “start of the month”.

The best bank is not the one with the cheapest products.

5- If you’re taking a loan and think you might be able to pay early, always check the “Prepayment Fees'' which can vary significantly. At certain times it might be better not to pay early and stick with the original plan.

6- In addition to interest, most banks charge administrative fees, always check both the interest rate and the administrative fees to make sure you have the lowest combined cost. Also, note that the administrative fees are deducted from the original loan amount.

7-There are two representations of Interest Rate “Flat vs. Declining”. They are both different ways of presenting the same thing, so make sure you are comparing apples to apples and not to oranges. 

8- The best bank is not the one with the cheapest products, but the best bank for you is the one where you can easily use all their services (Branch network, ATMs, internet banking, call center, etc.)