When a bank charges you to access your own money, sometimes the best move is to play the game better than they do.

So, what would you do if your bank tried to tack on a surprise fee, on top of another fee, just to get a check in your own currency?

Would you grit your teeth and pay it?

Or would you find a loophole and let them hand it right back to you with a smile?

In the following story, one bank customer finds herself dealing with this very situation and finds a way to avoid the pointless charge.

Here’s what happened.

Charge a fee for my own money?

It was only a $3 fee, but you know, I’m cheap and easily annoyed by corporate greed.

I live in Canada, near the border (not all of us do, BTW), and banks here routinely offer both Canadian dollar and US dollar accounts.

There are even ATMs where you can choose between US$ and C$ for withdrawals.

It’s more convenient and cheaper than exchanging $100 from one to the other whenever you want to do some cross-border business.

It all started when she needed to renew her passport.

The time had come to renew my US passport, and I needed a check (spelled ‘cheque’ here) for $130 US dollars.

Personal checks cost about $50 to print, and I’m cheap, so instead, I just stopped by my bank to get a cashier’s check.

Since I have US dollars in my account, I figure it’s easy-peasy, right?

There’s an $8 fee for writing a cashier’s check, but it’s only occasionally, so I can cope.

A nice young chap helps me out.

He looks at the computer and gives me that pained look that says, “Please don’t hate me, but …”

It seems that my kind of account has an additional $3 fee for this kind of withdrawal. Sigh.

The bank teller was actually very nice.

But wait! There are ATMs in the lobby, and one of them dispenses US dollars.

No fee.

I ask the poor guy: “Can I just get the cash for the check from the ATM?”

He gets that sort of half-smile twinkle of people who are enjoying the compliance, even though he’s supposed to be representing the bank.

“Yes, I guess you can. I’ll set your stuff to the side here while you go do that.”

Before she knew it, she was on her way.

It took three minutes to get the $140 cash ($20s only), and when he finished with the other customer, he took the cash, issued me the check for $130, and said, “I’ll just deposit the extra $10 back into your account.”

Me, with my best (sincere) customer smile: “Yes, please! Thanks for your help, and you have a good day!”

And off I go.

Next stop, Canada Post.

Wow! That was some quick thinking!

Let’s see if the readers over at Reddit have anything to say about this.

Oh no! That’s the worst.

There are no such things as checks in this person’s country.

This is probably the case for many people.

In the US, many people love credit unions.

What a great move!

It’s always awesome to hear stories about people finding a workaround for silly bank fees.

If you liked that post, check out this story about a customer who insists that their credit card works, and finds out that isn’t the case.