Which of the following is a strategy to avoid bank fees?

• A. Set up alerts, use in-network ATMs, avoid maintenance fees, and maintain the minimum account balance required.
• B. Overdraft repeatedly to earn rewards.
• C. Withdraw cash only from out-of-network ATMs.
• D. Ignore minimum balance requirements.

Answer: (A)

Managing your account to minimize charges is the idea here. Setting up alerts helps you catch low balances or upcoming transactions before overdraft or insufficient-funds fees kick in. Using in-network ATMs avoids extra surcharge fees that come from banks you don’t have a relationship with. Keeping a minimum balance or choosing an account that waives monthly maintenance fees protects you from ongoing charges tied to balance levels. Together, these steps reduce the main ways banks bill customers every month.

Flipping to overdrafting as a strategy isn’t effective because repeated overdrafts usually rack up multiple fees and interest, making it more costly in the long run. Withdrawing cash only from out-of-network ATMs adds extra fees rather than avoiding them. Ignoring minimum balance requirements triggers those maintenance fees.