Understanding Hidden Fees in Your Wells Fargo Bill

Did you receive a bill from Wells Fargo that contained charges you weren’t expecting?

Maybe you have noticed some hidden fees cropping up in your Wells Fargo bill every month for the last several months. Now you want to know what they are and how to make them go away. We go over your options.

It is always recommended that you review your Wells Fargo bill every month, line by line so that you know what you are being charged for at any given time. You might see unexpected items that don’t make sense at first, but then you remember they were associated with a one-time vacation or a trip to the city. However, if you don’t look into your bill every month, you might see unexpected hidden fees compounding regularly.

Hidden Wells Fargo Fees

Wells Fargo hidden fees take the form of many different service fees:

ATM balance inquiry

Anytime you go to a non Wells Fargo ATM in the United States or overseas can you check your balance you will be charged $2.50. There might also be fees from the ATM owner or operator for this service.

ATM cash withdrawal

Anytime you make a cash withdrawal from a non Wells Fargo ATM within the United States you will be charged $2.50 not including the extra charge from the ATM owner or operator. If you make a withdrawal overseas it will be $5 per cash withdrawal.

Cash deposit processing fee

If you have a business checking or savings account, every time you make a cash deposit the fee is $0.30 per $100.

Deposited item returned unpaid

If you deposit something into your account and it gets returned unpaid to your bank, hidden Wells Fargo fees are $12 for every transaction.

Debit card international purchase

If you make a transaction with your debit card in a foreign country that gets converted from a foreign currency to US Dollars, you get charged 3% of the transaction amount. This does not mean you have to be overseas to get charged, it just means that if you make a purchase online, buying a gift for a friend that is sold in London in British pounds, when it gets converted to US dollars at the time of the transaction, they charge you 3%.

Debit card over the counter cash disbursement

If you go to a teller at a bank that is not Wells Fargo and you use your debit card to get cash, just like an ATM you get charged a fee. In the United States this is $3 per transaction and overseas it is 3% of the cash you take out.

Overdraft

Overdraft fees are $35 for every item. This gets applied to everyday so if you had two transactions that got denied in the same day, and it took you three days to realize it, you will get charged $70 for three days for a total of $120 on your next bill.

Overdraft protection

People who choose to get overdraft protection can link more than one account together to prevent these overdraft fees from showing up on a bill. However, every time you have to move money from one account to the other for this purpose it charges you $12.50.

Stop payment

In order to stop a payment you have to pay $31 for each pre-authorized check or ACH item.

Transactions fees

Business accounts come with a transaction fee. Every transaction that happens gets charged $0.50 extra.

Finding Hidden Wells Fargo Fees in Your Bill

When you look at your bill for a basic Wells Fargo checking account fees will show up in this order:

Your monthly service fee is listed at the top. This might be $10 or $12, or higher depending on the account you have.
Below that are the ATM fees.
Overdraft charges are in the next block.
Any transfers for overdraft protection are listed below that.
Cashed or deposited items which are returned are listed separately followed by any cashier’s checks or money orders.
If you conducted a wire transfer, that appears in the next row followed by any stop payment charges.
International debit card purchase transaction fees and digital services are listed last.

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

If you were incorrectly charged a fee you can try and reach out to Wells Fargo customer service to get it fixed. But if that doesn’t work you still have two options:

You can take Wells Fargo to small claims court. Small claims court has restrictions on what cases qualify and how much compensation you can get.
You can also use a faster and easier option: consumer arbitration. With consumer arbitration you have more flexibility, can usually get a faster resolution, and what’s more, we can help.