CRESTVIEW — Students in Crestview High School teacher Greg Watson’s Leadership class now know more about personal banking.
The class, and two more held Wednesday, was conducted by staffers of FNBT.com bank’s Crestview branch to provide life skills that many adults don’t know.
“People come in every day who don’t know how to write a check,” FNBT.com regional manager Angie Reber said.
While more than half the approximately 25 students in the class had debit cards, only one was familiar with balancing a checkbook. Only a handful had ever written a check.
But most knew — many from experience — a $20 cash withdrawal from an out-of-network ATM could cost as much as $25.
“If you use another ATM, that bank is going to charge you a fee, and your bank is going to charge you a “foreign ATM’ fee,” Reber said.
“It’s those fees that will actually get you in trouble,” branch manager Christie Cadenhead said, explaining the fees could deplete a low account balance.
With client services representative Nell Sutherland, the bankers guided students through basics including writing a check, balancing a checkbook, monitoring their account and making transfers between accounts.
Students learned the importance of updating their checkbooks when using their debit cards to avoid overdrafts.
“If you don’t keep track of your spending, you can get lost really, really quickly,” Sutherland said.
“It’s so easy to swipe that card and keep on going,” Cadenhead said.
Plus, she said, account holders should understand what fees and rules their banks impose when they are establishing their accounts.
This can help students avoid unpleasant surprises.
Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview High School students learn financial basics