Banks are known for high interest rates and exorbitant fees. You need to tread very carefully to avoid late fees, overdraft fees and high interest charges if you want to stay out of debt and build wealth.

I have had my personal share of experiences that I would sooner like to forget but they were also great lessons learned. After paying huge fees, one time I even paid for an overdraft fee of $25 for a $2.00 charge, I knew I had to stop over drafting. This actually happened multiple times. So I eventually said enough is enough and I switched from a bank to a credit union.

Credit unions are known for lower interest rates and willingness to work with those of modest incomes. I even learned that credit unions are legally not able to charge more than 18 percent interest rate cap on loans and credit cards per the National Credit Union Association, as long as you pay on-time. Works for me.

It has been over 7 or 8 years since I made the switch to exclusively use credit unions and I couldn’t be happier. I even over drafted one time and as a courtesy this was refunded to me. In contrast, this did not happen with my bank.

Not only was I paying less in interest but I also was able to avoid over drafts completely by signing up for protection with linking my savings account and/or credit card. Previously, I was not made aware of both options with the bank I was with.

In addition, there was a time I was able to do cash advances inside the branch of any bank. Then one day I went to one and they were like last month they changed the policy and no longer did bank advances. How is a consumer to know? I could have been stuck on the highway with a flat and needed the cash but nope. Sorry kid, your out of luck.

Another bank said they too changed their policy and only do cash advances for members. A third bank said they would do it but there was a limit of one thousand dollars for non-members. Then after conferring with her manager informed me they could not do it because the back of my card was not signed. Even though I had identification. I signed the back of the card at the counter and then left.

Finally, I went to my local credit union (where I was a member btw). Not only were they willing to do a cash advance on my Visa but there was no issue of any kind. I was able to get my funds in under five minutes.

From this experience, I learned that you have to handle your affairs and conduct business very carefully. I saw that companies and banks or credit unions could change their policies at any time without anyone knowing. What you are able to do on Monday may be cancelled by Friday. Best to just keep a cash cushion in case of emergencies such as money in savings because financial institutions may consider you and your credit card as personae no grata (unwelcome or not appreciated). This is all done at their leisure so make sure you always have a back-up plan.