I recently had to pay my bank a lot of money to balance my account coz I had overdrawn. The overdrawn money itself was three times smaller than the fee which I had accumulated over a period of several transactions. I accept that I made a mistake. But I am still dissatisfied coz of the following reasons: i) The bank could have informed me by phone in my first transaction. ii) The letters they posted arrived a week and a half late. (I checked the post date, and it was posted at the appropriate date.) And the main question itself: Why is the overdraft fee so high? Shouldn't it be at a level where it fulfills its intent of deterring the customer from overdrawing in the future rather than being a tool to generate money for the bank? Now I have applied for the overdraft protection. But I know I did it too late. Advice: so ppl, if u have just a little amount of money in the bank, then it never hurts to check your balance before purchasing something. Don't be lazy, just do it. The money always is less than you imagine it to be. Apply for overdraft protection with the bank a.s.a.p.