CheckingAccounts

While thousands of Americans unleash their anger at big banks in protests around the country, many more are registering their dissatisfaction from their keyboards. In the wake of last week's news that Bank of America is adding a new $5 fee for debit card use, online-only banks saw waves of new customers coming through their virtual doors.

If you're a banker, please whip out a pad of paper and start taking notes. I have some ideas. Don't get me wrong. There have been some positive changes lately in how banks are treating their customers. For instance, while overdraft fees haven't exactly been eradicated from the planet, Bank of...

Consumers overwhelmingly want limits and additional disclosures on bank overdraft fees, according to a survey released by the Consumer Federal of America (CFA). Yet Congress has done nothing to fix the problem since it held hearings late last year and banks continue to make billions on overdraft...

When a $25,000 check turned up in the mail at a Charleston, S.C., Salvation Army office last month, the staff did what seemed rational: deposited it and spent the money on toys and food for about 100 families.

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...

This series explores aspects of America that may soon be just a memory -- some to be missed, some gladly left behind. From the least impactful to the most, here are 25 bits of vanishing America. I left the love affair I had with paper checks over a decade ago. Now, it's plastic -- but no, I don't...