An overdraft fee is a fee banks charge for withdrawing more money from an account than the current balance of that account. Banks charge overdraft fees to discourage overdrawing accounts and to make money from fees.
A bounced check is a check that is denied because it is written for an amount larger than the balance of the checking account in question. Consumers can avoid bounced check fees by keeping records of outstanding checks and taking care not to write checks for more than the balance left in their accounts. Consumers can also get overdraft protection on their accounts, but that may lead to fees.
Four possible options include being paid by cash, paycheck, direct deposit, and paycards. For the second part of the question, students should provide valid reasons why one of these is preferable to the other options.
The only way a consumer can determine the fees a bank charges is by researching the bank in question. Consumers should do their research, because banks will charge fees regardless of whether consumers are aware of them, and consumers should try to avoid fees as often as possible.
Online banking allows customers to manage their accounts more easily, and pay bills online. The drawbacks include risk of theft, risk of identity theft, and that the ease of transferring money from a savings to a checking account could lead to an inadvertent loss of savings.
