Tools

The cost of living without a bank account.

When you cannot get a free or low-fee bank account, small fees on cashing checks, loading prepaid cards, and buying money orders are charged again and again. This tool adds those fees up over a year and shows what that same money could have become if it were saved instead.

Your fees
$2,400.00

Total dollar value of paychecks or other checks you cash in a typical month.

3%

Percent of each check the store keeps. Commonly about 1 to 5 percent.

$7.00

Flat monthly fee just to keep a prepaid card. Commonly about $4 to $10.

$3.00

Fee charged each time you add cash to a prepaid card. Often a few dollars.

2

How many times a month you add money to the card.

$2.00

Fee per money order used to pay a bill. Commonly about $1 to $5 each.

4

How many bills you pay with money orders in a typical month.

What these fees cost in a year

$1,116

About $93.00 a month. A free or low-fee bank account would handle these same tasks for close to $0.

Check cashing$72.00per month
Prepaid card$13.00per month
Money orders$8.00per month
If saved instead, at ~5% a year
$20,000$15,000$10,000$5,000$0$1,116$6,167$14,037YR 0YR 5YR 10
1 year$1,116paid in $1,116
5 years$6,167paid in $5,580
10 years$14,037paid in $11,160
Fees, saved and grownIllustrative
A line chart projecting the yearly fee total of $1,116 as if it were saved each year and grew at about five percent a year. After one year it is about $1,116, after five years about $6,167, and after ten years about $14,037. This is an illustration of scale, not a prediction.
How to read this

Being "unbanked" means not having a checking or savings account, so everyday money tasks have to be paid for one at a time. A check-cashing store takes a cut of every check. A prepaid card often charges to set it up, to reload it, and a monthly fee just to keep it. Paying a bill by money order costs a small fee each time.

None of those single charges feels large. The point of this tool is that they repeat. The big number on the left is roughly what a year of those fees adds up to. The chart on the right shows the other side of the same coin: if that yearly amount were put into a savings or investment account instead, this is the order of magnitude it could grow to over 1, 5, and 10 years.

A free or low-fee bank account, the kind many banks and credit unions offer with no monthly fee, is what closes this gap. The goal here is not to judge anyone. It is to make a hidden cost visible.

Illustrative estimate / assumptions
  • These are estimates, not a quote. Real fees vary by store, by state, and by the type of check or card.
  • The default fee ranges shown are typical published ranges, not tied to any specific store or brand: check cashing commonly runs about 1 to 5 percent of the check, prepaid-card monthly fees commonly run about $4 to $10, reload fees often run a few dollars each, and money orders commonly cost about $1 to $5 each. You can change every input to match what you actually pay.
  • The growth projection assumes the yearly fee total is saved each year and earns a steady 5% annual return, compounded once a year. Real returns are never steady and are not guaranteed. The number is meant to show scale, not to predict an account balance.
  • A free or low-fee bank account is assumed to cost roughly $0 for these same tasks. Some accounts have small or avoidable fees, so treat the gap as a close approximation.
  • This is financial education, not advice. It does not recommend any specific account, product, or company.