An overdraft is a financial agreement, whereby money can be withdrawn from a bank account even when the balance has hit zero. An individual will be able to withdraw money from their account to a certain level below the zero mark. Some bank accounts may allow less than a hundred, whilst other bank accounts may only allow for a person to withdraw hundreds at a time.
When a person has started withdrawing money when their bank account balance has hit zero, they are known as ‘overdrawn’. If there has already been a prior agreement with the provider of the account for an overdraft, and the amount that has been withdrawn past the zero mark is within the authorised and agreed overdraft limit, then the interest will remain at the rate which has been agreed. If however there is no real prior agreement, or the amount of money has exceeded the agreed amount, then the amount of interest that will be charged will go above the normal and agreed rate.
If the negative bank account balance goes beyond the agreed terms, as described above, then additional fees as well as interest could be charged to the individual - as well as the aforementioned higher interest rates.
Many people choose to use an overdraft instead of a normal bank loan. This is because bank loans and other agreements will usually involve some rather high interest rate. Something comparable would be a payday loan, which has interest rates that often exceed 4,000%. Naturally an overdraft agreement would not involve this level of interest and would see a person being able to spend money even when their pay cheque has not come through yet. The money can easily be paid back without absurd levels of interest. This kind of agreement is generally popular amongst University students.
When a person has started withdrawing money when their bank account balance has hit zero, they are known as ‘overdrawn’. If there has already been a prior agreement with the provider of the account for an overdraft, and the amount that has been withdrawn past the zero mark is within the authorised and agreed overdraft limit, then the interest will remain at the rate which has been agreed. If however there is no real prior agreement, or the amount of money has exceeded the agreed amount, then the amount of interest that will be charged will go above the normal and agreed rate.
If the negative bank account balance goes beyond the agreed terms, as described above, then additional fees as well as interest could be charged to the individual - as well as the aforementioned higher interest rates.
Many people choose to use an overdraft instead of a normal bank loan. This is because bank loans and other agreements will usually involve some rather high interest rate. Something comparable would be a payday loan, which has interest rates that often exceed 4,000%. Naturally an overdraft agreement would not involve this level of interest and would see a person being able to spend money even when their pay cheque has not come through yet. The money can easily be paid back without absurd levels of interest. This kind of agreement is generally popular amongst University students.