A lot of online purchases seem to include fees.

Things like concert tickets, hotel stays, and many more purchases tack on extra charges like processing fees and convenience fees.

These extra fees can be annoying and ridiculous, but maybe they can also be justified for the convenience of paying online with a credit card.

But, what would you do if your bank wanted to charge you a fee for paying a bill in person with cash?

The man in today’s story was determined to avoid this fee.

Let’s see how he handled it.

Bank wanted $5 for paying a $10 bill

So one fine day when the sun was shining and I had some spare money, I stopped by at my bank to pay a bill (this was before any kind of internet banking) for $10, having that cash in the wallet.

When it was my turn I step to the counter and hand the guy there the bill and my $10, and he replied “That will be a $5 processing fee.”

Which upon I exclaimed a disbelieving “What?”

And he clarified that “When paying bills with cash it’s a $5 processing fee”

That fee seemed crazy!

So, dumbfounded I stood there for several seconds thinking that’s insanity and way too much of the bill’s cost.

I realized he had specified “with cash”, so I asked him “How much does it cost to pay a bill from my bank account?”

And he replied “That’s for free”.

After thinking for a second I also asked him “And how much does it cost to deposit some money to my bank account?”

Which he replied “That’s also free”

The guy at the bank knew exactly what he was doing.

I mulled this information over for a moment then told him “I would like to insert $10 into my account” handing him my ID and bank account details.

He had a small smile and said “yes, sir”.

I then told him “I would like to pay this bill from my account” at which point he started laughing and said “Yessir!”

Fee successfully avoided!

And that’s how I paid an $10 bill without having to pay $5 for the pleasure.

A small detail here is that I did have money on the account to cover the bill, but that was marked for other expenses.

This way I could pay the bill for free and still have the same balance on the account.

A fee for paying cash is ridiculous! I’m glad he didn’t fall for it and found a workaround.

Let’s see how Reddit reacted to this story.

This really was a great way to start the story.

It does seem pointless to have the bank involved.

This person would’ve taken it a step further.

A fee for closing an account is ridiculous!

A dollar saved is a dollar earned!

Don’t give them anything extra.

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.