Understanding Hidden Fees in Your KeyBank Bill

KeyBank is a very popular bank in the Northeast and Midwest with over 1197 branches across 15 different states. But understanding the hidden fees in your Key Bank bill is heavily contingent upon knowing what accounts you have and what fees they have for each account type.

Key Express Checking Account

The Key Express checking account is the basic checking account, one intended for everyday users and one of the more popular accounts they offer. This account does not earn interest and it has service fees that are higher than other accounts as well as a monthly fee which can be waived.

Relationship Rewards

When you open this account you have the option of enrolling in what is called relationship rewards. This gives you rewards for different transactions like debit card purchases, payments made online, ATM deposits, and any automatic debit or credit on the account. You also get bonus points for your birthday and for signing up with electronic statements. However, this has a $40 annual fee to sign up which means first, it isn’t worth investing in if you can’t earn more than $40 in rewards and second, it can appear as a hidden fee on your next bank statement if you aren’t expecting it.

ATMs

Key Bank will charge you $2.50 for any non KeyBank ATM that you use and $5 for any ATM you use outside of the US. This is in addition to whatever fees are charged by the financial institution that owns the ATM so if you aren’t expecting it you might get a lot of hidden fees for using ATMs.

Monthly fees

As mentioned, you can waive the monthly fee for this account if you sign up for electronic statements which does away with $3 each month, the $3 covers the cost of the paper statement. There’s also a $7 monthly maintenance fee which you can avoid if you use your account eight times in a given month, or you deposit at least $500 each month. If you, for example, use direct deposits and have your regular paychecks sent to your account but then one month’s you switch jobs or lose your job, you might not be expecting that $7 as a result of failing to deposit the minimum.

Are there other hidden fees I can be charged by KeyBank?

KeyBank has a range of other fees that they can charge based on different transactions. These charges can include:

• the overdraft fee of $34
• the overdraft protection transfer fee of $10
• the returned item fee of $34
• a stop payment fee of $34
• a deposited item returned fee of $15
• Domestic wire transfer incoming fee of $20
• International wire transfer incoming fee of $20
• cashier’s check fee of $8

KeyBank Hassle-Free Account

This is a non interest-bearing checking account that is only online and has no checks and doesn’t require you to maintain a minimum balance. However, if you open this account and then decide to close it within 180 days of opening it you will face a hidden early account closure fee of $25.

KeyBank has a range of other fees that they can charge for this account based on different transactions. These charges can include:

• minimum opening deposit of $10
• the overdraft protection transfer fee of $10
• non-KeyBank ATM fee of $2.50
• non-KeyBank ATM fee outside of the US of $5 
• a stop payment fee of $34
• overdraft protection plans fee of $10
• a deposited item returned fee of $15
• Domestic wire transfer incoming fee of $20
• International wire transfer incoming fee of $20
• cashier’s check fee of $8

KeyBank Key Advantage Checking Account

There is an interest-bearing checking account that charges $18 per month for the maintenance fee but will reimburse you $6 per month or non KeyBank ATM charges, and gives you 50% off your checks. This maintenance fee can be waived if you maintain at least $10,000 in any of your KeyBank accounts, have a mortgage from KeyBank, or have direct deposits that total at least $1,000 every month into your KeyBank account.

There are of course other charges that you might face including:

• Monthly maintenance fee of $18 which is waived for the first 3 months
• minimum opening deposit of $50
• a stop payment fee of $34
• the overdraft fee and non sufficient funds fee of $32 for the first 2 items and then $38.50 for 3 or more
• KeyBank Relationship Rewards annual fee of $30

KeyBank Key Privilege Checking Account

This account is there more Premier checking account that has a lot of savings options, preferred pricing, and options for investments. Your monthly maintenance fee is $25 but you get standard checks for free, and preferred rates for CD’s. You can waive the monthly fee if you have a combined balance of $25,000 or more across all of your key bank accounts, have a mortgage with KeyBank that has automatic payments of $500 or more, or you make direct deposits that total at least $2,500 every month.

As is the case with any KeyBank account, one of the biggest areas where hidden fees manifest are the maintenance fees and the ATM fees. If you normally adhere to the minimums knowingly or not to get your monthly maintenance fee waived, you might not realize that you have to pay it in months where you fail to meet the minimum standards. If this happens it can result in late payments or overdraft fees which then compound and make the problem worse.

Other fees that have to do with this particular account include:

• the minimum opening deposit of $50
• a stop payment fee of $34
• an overdraft fee and non sufficient funds fee that is $34 for the first two items and $38.50 for all other items 
• the overdraft protection plan fee which is $10 per month

What can I do if I was incorrectly charged a fee?

If you were incorrectly charged a fee by KeyBank, and you tried their customer service, there are 2 remaining options to get the issue fixed:

1. The first option is to use small claims court. Small claims court is something laid out in your user agreement and if you have the time and the money to dedicate to going to court regularly and filing the right paperwork, it might be a good option. However, there are different limitations for how much you can ask for in compensation and each state is different so your case might not qualify.
2. The second is to use something that is faster, potentially easier, and doesn’t have the same restrictions. With consumer arbitration you have more flexibility, can usually get a faster resolution, and what’s more, we can help. 

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