Every day dozens of television ads in which banks convince us how advantageous their conditions are how carefree we shall live if we mortgage our home or if we just open an account with them.

SmartMoney published a list of those things that the bank, however, will never tell you:

1. "Our branches are set up to sell you, not to serve you."

At the end of the 90s it was considered that bank branches would soon enter into history and would be fully replaced by ATMs and online banking. But the opposite happened. At the end of 1998 the U.S. had 89 000 banking offices while at the end of 2007 they were 97 000. Why?

Because it proved that they made money and that, ultimately, one of the most important criteria for people when they chose their Banks was whether it had a branch near them.

The bank branches are not created solely for the convenience of customers. They are shops, which sells - flyers for a variety of plans and services are ordered everywhere, and employees are smiling and polite like sellers in expensive boutiques. This is because today it's become ever more difficult to make money only by collecting interest. Banks are designed to bind one customer with as many of their products - saving account, mortgage, credit card and so on. Every employee strives to offer its customers new and new plans in order to bind them even more strongly with the bank.

2. "Our fees will be increased".

With the slowing of the economy and mortgage crisis banks seek stable sources of revenue. For this they like to increase fees such as for overdraft, drawing money from an ATM of another bank and so forth. Between 1998 and 2007 the average fee for drawing money in the U.S. doubled. In 2004, banks took in income from overdrafts fees amounting to 10.3 billion dollars, while only two years later, the amount was already 17.5 billion dollars!

Many Americans complain about the practice of banks to change the order of purchases in accounting, as they put first the larger purchases and the smaller purchases in the end of the list. Thus, if the customer exceeds his limit, they will be charged overdraft for more purchases.

3. "We continuously change the interest rates."

There is no exact criterion as to when banks may decide to increase their interest. According to them, they periodically assess the risk to the accounts and where appropriate, take action. In other words, regardless of what written in the agreement you have signed for your credit card, you can never be sure exactly what interest you will be charged.

4. "Students are a gold mine for us."

Students are consumers of the future and banks in the U.S. woo them by all possible means. More than 120 U.S. universities have contracts with banks to issue personal student card, which also serve as ATM cards.

Students are also a hot market for loans. Chase Bank even signed a contract for advertising with Facebook. The Bank has a page for fans of Chase in Facebook.

All this is very good for banks, but whether it is good for college boys and girls who accumulate stable debts in their youth?

5. "You have debts? Court will not help you".

Since 1990 U.S. banks have required customers to sign agreements that they will not seek the help of Court but of an arbitrator in the event of a problem. A recent study found that between January 2003 and March 2007 from 18 045 cases in California the arbitrator decided in 100% of them in favor of the bank.

6. "You'll travel abroad? This is great for us!"

Banks charge a lot to use ATMs abroad and other transactions. Before traveling, familiarize yourself with the charges of your bank.

7. "The most important things we write with the smallest letters."

The documents which we sign in banks are long and full with paragraphs of small letters. In a state inspection conducted in the U.S. last year, it was revealed that one third of the verified banks did not give in their advertising brochures complete information on fees, which they require and more than a half of them did not give any details on their Web sites.

Banks explain the last with the fact that they have to update the website with every change made and are afraid that can be late and become the reason for non-conformity to the information on the Internet and the new charges. The investigation also found that some customers had to wait more than 10 minutes at the desk until someone answers their questions.

8. "Indeed, your money will be more secure somewhere else."

Today there is tremendous competition between different banks, so do a good investigation before choosing a product.

9. "When it comes to banks, more does not necessarily mean better."

The large banks have more branches and more ATMs, but this does not mean that the charges they require are more profitable. Sometimes it is exactly the opposite.

10. "The information on the Internet may not be accurate.

With electronic transactions, direct deposits and ATMs on every corner, banking has become a more complex process. So what you see on the Internet is not always the correct figure, SmartMoney warns.