Bank fees soar, free-checking offers decline
By Herb Weisbaum, NBC News contributor
A just-released study by Bankrate.com finds that checking account fees have hit unprecedented highs. At the same time, it’s becoming harder to get a truly free checking account, one with no strings attached.
Here are the key findings from the Bankrate 2012 Checking Survey:
•The average monthly maintenance fee for a non-interest checking account is now at a record high of $5.48. That’s a 25 percent jump from last year.
•Overdraft fees are also at a record high. The average NSF or nonsufficient funds fee is $31.26, up from $30.83 last year.
•The cost to get cash from an out-of-network ATM is up dramatically. Expect to pay an average fee of $2.50 to the owner of the ATM, a new record and up 4 percent from last year. Plus your bank will charge you another $1.57 on average, an increase of 11 percent.
As fees go up, “free” checking – with no minimum balance requirement and no monthly fee – continues its march toward extinction.
“And that’s going to continue over the next few years,” said Bankrate’s senior financial analyst Greg McBride. “I don’t expect it to reverse anytime soon.”
The Bankrate survey shows that only 39 percent of the major banks in the U.S. offer non-interest checking accounts that have no fee. That’s down from a peak of 76 percent just three years ago and 45 percent in 2011.
more:
http://bottomline.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/24/14068938-bank-fees-soar-free-checking-offers-decline?lite
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