ithinkfi Fees
The complete fee schedule, updated monthly: every ithinkfi fee, its trigger, and how it stacks against the industry average.
The Real Cost of Credit Union: Fees
- No ithinkfi fee exceeds $35, and the most common services cost $0.
- Overdrafts cost $25 per item with a one-per-day cap, versus a $34 bank average.
- Fee revenue contributed just 4% of credit union income in 2024.
- Out-of-network ATM fees are refunded up to $10 per month.
The full fee table
Every ithinkfi fee appears below, with the industry average beside it for honest comparison.
| Fee | Amount | Trigger | Industry avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overdraft | $25 | Per item, 1/day max | $34 |
| Domestic wire | $15 | Per outgoing wire | $28 |
| International wire | $35 | Per outgoing wire | $46 |
| Stop payment | $20 | Per request | $32 |
| Replacement card | $5 | Per card, expedited $25 | $10 |
| Rush bill pay | $9.95 | Same-day payment | varies |
Fees that do not exist
There is no monthly maintenance fee, no minimum-balance fee, no paper-statement fee, and no fee for the first overdraft transfer each month.
The absence list matters as much as the price list. Members coming from banks save $180 a year on maintenance fees alone, on average.
This list does NOT cover third-party fees, such as credit monitoring vendors, which bill separately.
Overdraft fee rules
Overdraft fees are capped at one per day and $25 each, and the first transfer from savings each month carries no fee.
Transactions under $5 do not trigger a fee at all. The one-per-day cap means a cascade of three small charges produces one fee, not three.
Members who link savings as a backup see most potential fees disappear entirely.
How we price fees
Fees are priced to recover cost, not to profit; fee revenue made up just 4% of income in 2024.
Each fee was re-derived in 2015 from the actual cost of the underlying service plus a small buffer. We re-audit the schedule every two years and publish the result.
The data does not cover pre-2015 pricing, which followed competitor-matched tables we later abandoned.
Fee avoidance in one glance
Three habits avoid 94% of all fees members pay: enable alerts, link savings for overdrafts, and schedule bill payments.
Our 2024 account review found 94% of fee events trace to those three gaps. None of the habits costs anything to adopt.
Initially we expected fee events to be random; the data showed otherwise, and the fix list above is the result.
I totaled my old bank's fees for a year: $412. My first year here: $20, and that was one wire.
The one-per-day overdraft cap is the fairest fee rule I have seen in banking.
What is the highest fee ithinkfi charges?
The highest fee is $35 for an international wire; no fee exceeds that amount.
Does ithinkfi charge monthly maintenance fees?
No, checking and savings accounts carry no monthly maintenance fee.
How much is an overdraft fee?
Overdrafts cost $25 per item with a maximum of one fee per day.
Are ATM fees refunded?
Yes, out-of-network ATM surcharges are refunded up to $10 per month.
Is there a fee for account statements?
No, paper and electronic statements are free.
Auditing your own fees
- Pull last year's statements
Circle every fee line.
- Match each against this table
The same services, side by side.
- Enable the three avoidance habits
Alerts, savings link, scheduled bills.
- Recheck after 90 days
The difference shows quickly.
Fee events by cause
The 2024 review of 6,200 accounts traced 94% of fee events to three gaps. The same accounts produced no fees in the months after the gaps were closed.
Fee prevention, not fee pricing, is the actual member strategy.
Bank with fewer fees
Compare your statements against this page before you switch.
Open a Free AccountThe official methodology is detailed in the ithinkfi overview.
Oversight standards for this sector are published by www.ncua.gov and www.consumerfinance.gov.