(020) Bank Fees: Mundane Shame (w/ Atsuko Okatsuka)

Money Ha Ha

Fresh from riffing her way straight through a 7.1-magnitude earthquake that tried to interrupt her stand-up set, our guest Atsuko Okatsuka can conquer anything—including this week’s topic, bank fees! Together we break down the types of fees you’re probably getting charged, how much they’re costing you, and how they like to multiply like bunnies—especially when those unpredictable “pending” transactions start racking up the overdrafts.

We start light with talk of Barbies and race cars, but end intense with a request that you sign a pact in blood. Along the way, Atsuko fantasizes about bank executives gorging themselves on Red Lobster, and Dara gets accused of surfing the dark web in search of a Red Lobster biscuit. We wouldn’t leave you without a solid action item, and you get to choose how to do it: call up your bank and “ask a few nice questions”—or deliberately keep them on the phone for several hours as a form of righteous revenge, like Yasmine would. Get ready, Customer Support!

Full Transcript

Links mentioned in this episode:

• Atsuko’s earthquake set
• NerdWallet article on average checking account fees
• Miami Herald op ed about overdrafts
• The CFPB’s research on overdrafts
• NerdWallet list of the most consumer-friendly checking accounts
• Atsuko on Twitter
• Atsuko on Instagram
• Let’s Go Atsuko! A (woke) Japanese Game Show