Checking Fees, Unsurprisingly, Are Going Up

By Cornelius Nunev


Bank fees, in a recent survey, were found to have decreased substantially, as banking institutions have stated they want to get back to serving consumers. In Bizarro World! Just joking; bank fees, including checking fees and so on were found to have gone up again in a recent MoneyRate survey.

Checking fees and other bank charges going up a fact of life

Banks have been adding increasingly more fees to try and see what they can get away with without losing customers. Apparently they hit their threshold last year with the $5 debit card charges mistake Bank of American made last year. Banks will always try to add extra fees.

Bank fees are always increasing, so at least they are consistent. Forbes explained that there was a MoneyRate survey just released that showed massive increases in checking fees and other bank fees this year. There have already been many rounds of increases for the year, and evidently they will continue.

Opening balance and overdraft up, among other categories

The MoneyRate survey showed that average opening balances increased from $391.41 to $408.76, according to Forbes. There were other fee increases seen in the survey, which is released every few months. The survey looks at over 100 banking institutions worth of data including the 50 largest banking institutions, according to CNN.

Overdraft fees, which many people avoid by getting payday loans and are often a matter of frequent criticism of banks, increased slightly from $29.23 to $29.83.

There was a 24 percent increase in the minimum balance required to stay away from account fees. It increased from $3,590.83 to $4,446.57.

Considering monthly service fees increased from $11.28 to $12.08, the average amount paid for an account per year was $145, CNN pointed out. Medium banks averaged $11.87 service charges while small banking institutions had $9.88 service charges. Average large banking institutions charged $13.88 in account charges. It is obvious that larger banks charge much more than smaller banks do.

ATM fees barely increased, as non-customer ATM use went up by three cents, to $2.40, but out-of-network ATM went up 18 cents to $1.29.

Get free checking

Last year, 39 percent of banks offered free checking. Now you can only get it at 35 percent of banking institutions. That includes 46 percent of small banking institutions and 21 percent of big banks.

There are 72 percent of the largest credit unions in the country that offer free checking accounts, a recent Bankrate survey showed, according to the Chicago Tribune. That is a slight decline from last year's 76 percent, but it is still the very best choice in case you are looking for free checking.




About the Author:



Related Posts :

0 Response to "Checking Fees, Unsurprisingly, Are Going Up"

Posting Komentar

wdcfawqafwef