Fee income is a business model. For a shareholder-owned bank, every dollar collected in service charges is a dollar of profit that flows out to investors. For a credit union owned by its members, that same dollar has nowhere useful to go, because the owners and the customers are the same people. Charging yourself a fee is a strange way to run a business.
That is the structural reason our fee schedule is short. Here is what we do not charge, and what we do instead.
The monthly ones
First, the monthly maintenance fee. Many checking accounts cost $12 to $15 a month unless you keep a minimum balance or route a direct deposit through them. None of our personal checking accounts carry a monthly fee, and there is no balance you have to maintain to avoid one.
Second, the minimum balance fee. Related to the first, this one triggers on the single day your balance dips below a threshold, which tends to be the day before payday. We do not have a threshold, so there is nothing to dip below.
Third, the paper statement fee. Charging someone two or three dollars for a mailed statement is a fee for being older or for not having reliable internet. Paper statements are free here for any member who wants them.
The transaction ones
Fourth, out-of-network ATM surcharges. We are part of a network of 85,000 surcharge-free ATMs, which is a larger footprint than any single national bank operates. If you are in a town without a Summit branch, there is very likely a free machine within a few blocks.
Fifth, teller and in-person transaction fees. Some institutions now charge for visiting a branch or speaking to a person. Our 42 branches and 5,600 shared branching locations are there to be used, and using them costs nothing.
Sixth, the debit card replacement fee. Cards get lost and stolen. Charging a member $10 to replace one after a theft adds insult to a bad week. Replacements are free, and we can usually print one at a branch the same day.
The one that matters most
Seventh, the overdraft fee stack. This is the expensive one. An institution that charges $35 per overdraft item, and processes the largest item first, can turn a $60 shortfall into $140 of fees before you have seen a notification. We do not reorder transactions to increase fee counts, and we do not charge for a transaction we decline.
Add up the ones that hit a typical household and you are looking at somewhere between $200 and $400 a year. That is a car payment, or a good chunk of an emergency fund, spent on nothing.
The trade is real and worth stating honestly. A credit union is smaller than a national bank, and our branch network covers a region rather than the whole country. What you get for that is a fee schedule you can read in one sitting and a rate sheet set by people who answer to members instead of shareholders.
This is a demonstration website; rates, products, and figures shown are illustrative only.
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