Almost everybody has noticed that there is a periodic entry for bank charges on our statement. But few of us understand what that is all about. Remember those highly attractive services that you liked when you got this bank account? Well today you are paying for them. This might come as a surprise to many. After all, most of us take it for granted that since we have an account with Bank X, we are eligible for several miscellaneous services. 

So, it is always better to find out in advance what the free services offered are and what extra services can be availed at a cost. Hopefully what you are paying for is what you intended to pay for. These include, using of the ATM card beyond a certain limit, issuing more than the allocated number of cheque books, notifying transactions by way of SMS, or availing of bank statements in between quarters. 

All these are activities that may invite additional bank charges. People often feel that they should be getting some of these services free of charge. 

Either because you did not have the money or because there was a withdrawal limit, sometimes you might end up overdrawing. In a case of overdrawing, a fee is levied by the bank on the extra amount that has been withdrawn. This is merely because the bank has done you a favour by providing you with funds when you did not have enough. Another example that we can look at is that of issuing a cheque to a third-party while being unaware of insufficient funds. 

In such a case, the cheque will not be cleared. Instead, it will have to be presented once again after we have planned for the necessary funds to be deposited. A charge will be levied on the cheque/EMI that has bounced and additional fees will be levied for representing the same. Prudent financial management dictates that we do bother about these little sums too. 

Whether we issue cheques today or whether we had issued them a long time ago, it is our responsibility to ensure that the cheques get cleared. In a case like this, we will have to pay the bank a certain amount to hold the cheque till we deposit sufficient funds into it. Any service carried out by the bank for our benefit will be outside of what we are eligible for. That is why I find it reasonable that a bank charge for them. 

While traveling or otherwise we may be unable to locate our bank's ATM, so we might use the teller machine of another bank. However, a certain amount will also be debited from our account for the same purpose. Even if not free, the ATM card serves a valuable function. 

Some services provide by banks are free of charge, others are paid for. Make sure that you do not take any service for granted. Of course, there is no harm in paying for what you want to buy. At the same time make sure that you are not accidentally paying for something you do not need.