CheckingAccountFees

Practically nobody ever reads the disclosures that came with a bank account, and that's no surprise -- they average 111 pages long. That's way too much fine print, say Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Jack Reed (D-R.I.), who are calling on banks to cut those disclosures down to just one easy-to-comprehend page.

With some of the biggest banks raising fees again, many Americans are seriously considering finding new places to keep their money. But with direct deposit and automatic bill pay, moving your checking account can be complex. We talked to a pro for this easy five-step process to handle your bank swap.

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.

As reported in the New York Post, Citibank plans to eliminate the two fee waivers that had been available on its two basic checking accounts nationwide early next year. Previously, customers who had an "EZ" or "Access" checking account and didn't keep a minimum balance of $1,500 could avoid paying...

As banks have become ruthless in terms of deposit growth and profit, one of the nastier ways for them to make money on your money is that ugly four-letter word -- fees.From "convenience" fees to "overdraft" fees to "minimum balance" fees, banks will stop nothing short of ludicrous levels to zap...