How to Understand Your US Bank Bill

US Bank has been providing banking and credit services to Americans for many years now, but they haven’t yet made their bills or statements as clear as they could be. Because of this, plenty of their customers are confused when they suddenly see a charge or fee on their statement that they hadn’t realized they incurred. We wrote this guide so you won’t be surprised by an additional charge from US Bank again. We can also help you figure out how to avoid those extra charges in the first place by your next billing cycle.

What’s On Your US Bank Statement

US Bank allows you to pay online or with paper statements, though both seem to be laid out basically the same. Both types of statements include a breakdown of your monthly expenses and account balance, along with recommendations to switch to paperless billing if you use the paper format at the moment. There’s a single line dedicated to extra charges.

What Are the Extra Charges You Might See?

Let’s break down the extra charges or fees you might see from a US Bank account one by one:

• Express deliver bill payment: $14.95. This fee is only incurred if you need to pay your bill quickly in order to avoid a late fee or overdraft charge or avoid letting your credit take the hit
• Minimum opening deposit amount: $25. You must pay this to open the account in the first place
• Monthly maintenance fee: $14.95. This can only be waived if you have an open US Bank personal loan, credit line or credit card. Note that these cannot be student loans or reserve lines of credit
• ATM fee: $0 for the first two withdrawals from a non-US Bank ATM. Then it’s $2.50 for any additional withdrawal. This is a little better than what most other banks offer for the same “grievance”
• Overdraft fee: $36 for every item over $5.01
• Extended overdraft fee: $36 if the available balance is negative for seven consecutive calendar days. This charge comes out of your account on the eighth calendar day and may cause the cycle to continue
• Overdraft protection transfer fee: $7.50 per day when a transfer of more than $50 occurs
• Returned deposited item or cashed check fee: $19
• External transfer standard delivery: up to $3 depending on the amount in question
• Debit card cash advance: $2 fee
• Paper statement with check images: $2 per statement cycle or $6 per statement cycle if you include a check return
• Stop payment fee: $35. This is incurred when you need to stop a check or money order from going through to US Bank and they have to scramble at the last minute

How to Contact US Bank

US Bank can be contacted to contest your fee or for other questions at their support page. Their FAQs are roughly separated by the type of problem you are experiencing. We’d recommend going straight to the customer service line if you want actual answers fast.