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FreeChecking

As many as 60 million Americans have limited or no access to banking services, and many of them will get tax refunds this spring. Typically, this is where payday lenders come in, cashing the checks for big fees, but now there's a new cashier offering to do it for much less: Walmart.
Credit unions, mid-size banks and online institutions are eagerly stepping up to capture banking customers who are fed up with increasing fees at the biggest banks. And so far, it seems, those big banks don't mind losing their business.
Big Wall Street banks haven't been winning many fans lately with their new fees and constant search for loopholes in the Obama administration's consumer protection laws. Bank of America's new fees on debit cards could be the last straw for some. The alternative many Americans are turning to -- credit unions.
Bank of America's announcement this week that it would start charging a monthly $5 fee for using a debit card to make purchases is the latest in banking industry upcharges. As fee-free options for banking dwindle, the bottom line is that consumers are paying more to use their own money.
Consumers' wallets are really getting the squeeze these days as banks continue to raise ATM and bounced check fees. Meanwhile, the percentage of free checking accounts is on a steady decline, according to a new Bankrate survey.
You might assume that free checking is one of those banking benefits on the way out, but that's not the case: More than a third of checking accounts charge no monthly service fee. But that doesn't mean that banks don't expect to profit from your checking business. Here are the fees that make "free" a highly inappropriate designation -- and how you can avoid them.
There's a lot of good stuff going on as far as the government cracking down on the way banks and credit-card companies have been treating their customers lately. The CARD Act kicks into gear next month, and Federal Reserve rules that come into play this summer will stop the frustrating practice of...
Friend or foe? Banks hope you'll think of them more kindly this year by offering a slew of new products aimed at making life easier for customers. But that convenience, along with pretty much everything else your bank offers, will likely come at a price. In fact, consumers should expect to spend a...
The free checking account as we know it is likely at the start of its death throes.This is according to Hank Israel, a director at Novantas, a consulting firm for the banking and credit card industry and which, last week, was featured in a WalletPop post about credit card rewards. Israel was...

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