How to find bank fees and interest on statements
Monthly fees, overdraft charges, foreign transaction fees and card interest hide between ordinary purchases. Here's where to look and what to do about them.
Key takeaways
- Fees appear as separate statement lines with names like service charge, overdraft fee or foreign transaction fee.
- Card interest is usually listed in its own section near the end of a card statement.
- Totalling a year of fees and interest in one category shows what your accounts really cost.
Fees don't announce themselves. A monthly maintenance charge, a couple of foreign transaction fees and a month of card interest can add up to more than a streaming subscription, but they're scattered across statements and easy to skim past.
The usual suspects
- Monthly account or service fees on checking accounts.
- Overdraft and returned-payment fees.
- Foreign transaction fees, often a percentage of each purchase made abroad or online in another currency.
- ATM fees — from your bank and from the ATM's owner.
- Card interest and late payment fees.
- Annual card fees, charged once a year.
Where to find them
On checking statements, fees are ordinary lines in the transaction list, usually with the bank's own name in the description. On card statements, interest and fees typically have their own section, and the summary box shows the totals for the cycle. Foreign transaction fees may sit on a separate line right after the purchase they relate to.
Add up a year
One fee is easy to dismiss. Twelve months of them, in one number, isn't. Put every fee and interest charge in a single category and total the year. That figure tells you whether a fee-free account or a card with no foreign transaction fees would pay for itself.
PaperSpend files these under Fees & Interest automatically, across every account you upload, so the yearly total is one filter away. If it's hidden in “Other”, tidy your categories first.
What to do about them
- Ask your bank to waive a one-off fee — many will, once.
- Check whether a minimum balance or direct deposit removes the monthly fee.
- Use a card without foreign transaction fees when travelling or buying from abroad.
- Pay card balances in full to avoid interest.
Frequently asked questions
How do I find all the fees I pay my bank?
Look for lines with your bank's name and words like fee, charge or interest across a year of statements, and total them in one category.
What is a foreign transaction fee?
A charge, usually a percentage of the purchase, that some cards add when you pay in a foreign currency or with a merchant based abroad.
Where is interest shown on a credit card statement?
Usually in a separate interest charges section and in the summary box at the top of the statement.
