bank_skill

Overview

This skill is a complete personal and business banking intelligence system that helps you optimize accounts, reduce fees, maximize interest, and resolve disputes with banks. It treats banks as vendors and builds a deliberate account architecture that matches money to purpose. Use it to select products, audit fees, negotiate or switch accounts, and handle international transfers or regulatory escalation.

How this skill works

The skill assesses your banking scenario, then audits accounts for fees, interest opportunity cost, and feature fit. It recommends an account architecture (checking, HYSA, money market, CD, business checking), provides fee-elimination and reversal scripts, and outlines dispute and escalation steps. For international needs it compares wire options and multi-currency solutions to minimize costs.

When to use it

• When monthly fees exceed what the account delivers (e.g., >$10/month)
• If your savings APY is noticeably below market HYSA rates
• Before opening business banking or mixing business and personal funds
• When charged unexpected or disputed fees or unauthorized transactions
• When sending or receiving cross-border payments or holding multiple currencies

Best practices

• Separate money by purpose: checking for flows, HYSA for emergency funds, CDs for fixed-term savings
• Keep checking balances minimal (1–2 months of expenses) and earn better rates on longer-term balances
• Audit and ask for fee reversals politely—retention teams often waive first-time fees
• Use ACH and Wise/Revolut for transfers instead of expensive wires when possible
• Document disputes immediately (screenshots, dates) and escalate to CFPB/OCC/FDIC if internal resolution fails

Example use cases

• Optimize a long-held checking account that charges maintenance fees and offers no ATM reimbursement
• Move an emergency fund from a brick-and-mortar savings account to a high-yield online savings for materially higher APY
• Build a business banking setup: separate account, merchant services, and accounting integration
• Recover an overdraft or erroneous fee using a concise reversal script and escalation path
• Send $10,000 internationally using Wise vs your bank and compare total cost savings