"Everyday banking: accounts, cards and security"

A current account is for everyday use (salary, direct debits, debit card); a savings account is for storing money you do not need immediately so that it earns interest. Explain the difference and decide where you would place each item: weekly pocket money, $300\ \text{€}$ saved for a laptop, money for the monthly bus pass.

Bank A offers a fee-free account but charges $0,50\ \text{€}$ per bank transfer; Bank B charges a $3\ \text{€}$ monthly maintenance fee with free transfers. Nora makes about $4$ transfers a month.

1. a) Calculate how much she would pay per year at each bank.
2. b) Explain what else you would compare before choosing (free ATMs, minimum age, app quality, nearby branch) and how to deal with a bank when you are young (asking about youth accounts, reading the fine print).

There are three types of payment card: debit (the payment comes out of your account immediately), credit (you pay even if you do not have a balance and repay it later, sometimes with interest), and prepaid (you top up only what you want to spend beforehand). State which card describes each situation: (a) paying for shopping and having it deducted immediately from your account; (b) buying headphones online after topping up only $60\ \text{€}$ beforehand; (c) paying for a trip at the end of the month even if you do not have the balance today. Then explain the risk of a credit card if you defer payments.

Marcos financed a 1.200 € computer using a credit card with deferred payments (revolving credit). The terms on his statement are:

• Interest rate: 21,5% nominal interest rate (TIN) (23,75% APR / TAE).

• Fixed monthly payment chosen by Marcos: 30 € per month.

• Breakdown of the first payment: 21,50 € corresponds to accrued interest and 8,50 € to principal repayment.

• Outstanding debt after paying the first month: 1.191,50 €.

Marcos states: "It's a bargain: I enjoy a new computer paying only 30 € a month, what I spend on a dinner, without hurting my checking account."

1. a) Refute Marcos's perception using calculations and financial arguments: deduce why this repayment schedule generates the effect known as "perpetual debt" or "snowball effect" and why the Supreme Court has declared similar contracts void on grounds of usury.
2. b) Model and compare this situation with two alternatives: (1) paying the entire amount in a single lump sum at the end of the month, and (2) financing the 1.200 € over 12 months with constant payments of principal plus interest. Justify which option is the most rational for a responsible consumer and what psychological biases revolving credit exploits.

To make a transfer you need the recipient's IBAN (their account code). An ordinary one takes one working day and is usually free; an instant one arrives in seconds and may carry a charge.

1. a) Explain when you would choose each one: paying the rent that is due tomorrow versus helping out a friend today.
2. b) Argue why it is worth re-reading the IBAN twice before confirming (transfers are very hard to undo).

Mobile-to-mobile payments (such as Bizum or instant bank transfers) move money from your account to another person's using their phone number, and arrive instantly.

1. a) Explain two safety rules when using them (sending money only to known contacts, checking the recipient's name before confirming).
2. b) Common scam: a stranger texts you saying "I sent you a mobile payment by mistake, please send it back", but no money has been credited to your account. Explain what they are trying to do and what you should do.

Nerea has to pay $300\ \text{€}$ for the end-of-year trip. Options: an instant transfer ($1\ \text{€}$ fee, arrives in seconds), an ordinary transfer (free, arrives tomorrow) or a Bizum (free and instant, but the recipient must have it activated).

1. a) Recommend one option for each case: the deadline ends today and the organiser has Bizum; the deadline is the day after tomorrow and they only gave their IBAN.
2. b) Explain why paying $1\ \text{€}$ for the instant one can work out cheap if it stops you losing your place (the cost of the alternative is much greater).

Taking money out at your own bank's cash machine is usually free; at another bank's it can cost around $2\ \text{€}$ per withdrawal.

1. a) Explain why that charge exists (your bank pays the cash machine's owner) and how to avoid it.
2. b) Calculate how much you would pay a year in charges if you take out $20\ \text{€}$ every week at other banks' cash machines at $2\ \text{€}$ a time, and say what you would rather spend that money on.

Going overdrawn means spending more than you have: the account goes into the negative (for example, $-30\ \text{€}$) and the bank charges you for that automatic 'loan'.

1. a) Explain the difference between having a zero balance and being overdrawn.
2. b) Argue why a $30\ \text{€}$ overdraft over a few weeks can end up costing several euros in interest and charges, and which two habits prevent it (checking the balance before paying, switching on low-balance alerts).

Diego's account has $45\ \text{€}$ and today the gym direct debit is charged: $60\ \text{€}$. The bank pays it anyway and leaves his account in the negative, charging him a $4,50\ \text{€}$ overdraft fee plus interest of $0,10\ \text{€}$ for each day it stays in the red.

1. a) Calculate how much Diego owes the bank right after the charge and the fee.
2. b) If he takes $10$ days to pay money in, calculate the total cost of the mishap (fee plus interest).
3. c) Explain what he should have done to avoid it (warning the gym, keeping a small cushion, low-balance alerts).

The bank's app is the door to your money. Write five security rules for using it and explain what risk each one prevents: a unique password that isn't the school one, two-factor authentication, not logging in on the station's public wifi, not leaving your phone unlocked for anyone, and keeping the app updated.

Vera receives this SMS: "BANK: Your account has been blocked. Verify it immediately at bnc-security.example.com with your username and password."

1. a) Point out three clues showing that this is a scam (sense of urgency, threat, unofficial URL, asking for login details).
2. b) Explain step by step what Vera should do and what scammers gain if someone enters their details there.

Unai's mother gets a call 'from the bank': they say there are suspicious charges and, to block them, they need her to read out the code that has just arrived by SMS.

1. a) Explain what vishing is and why the SMS code is the key they are after: the real bank never asks for it over the phone.
2. b) Write the correct script: what she should say, what she should do after hanging up (calling the official number on her card herself or checking the app) and who to warn if she already gave the code.