Durbin Amendment

Feel like you're getting gouged at the gas pump amid rising prices? You actually are if you're using a debit card. Despite last year's banking reforms, gas stations have yet to pass along more than $1 billion in debit card transaction fee savings to consumers.

Washington's efforts at financial reform keep having strange and unintended consequences. In response to a law that was meant to lower excessive debit card transaction fees on merchants, Visa and Mastercard found a way to raise the fees on a host of small businesses.

The financial world's fee fever may have abated -- for now. Several big and medium-sized banks say they're not implementing fees for debit card use anytime soon. But with bank revenues slipping, they do need to act, and more are considering cost cuts to repair their bottom lines.

New and higher debit card fees may not be enough to satiate the big banks. Financial institutions looking for revenue are now eyeing another source: Selling your debit-card transaction data to marketers. So which is worth more to you: The deals such targeted advertising will bring, or your privacy?

Bank of America learned pretty quickly last month that customers think $5 a month is too much to pay to use a debit card. But is there such a thing as a reasonable bank fee? One in three people say they're prepared to walk away from their financial institution to avoid a fee, a new survey reveals.

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.

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.

The Federal Reserve is preparing to issue its final rule on debit card "swipe fees" Wednesday. If the expected cut to those fees arrives, banks are likely to respond by cutting interest rates on high-yield checking accounts and squeezing profits from other banking products. DailyFinance explains what it all means to you.

The era of free checking accounts is coming to an end. Many consumers will face an extra $144 a year in account fees, plus higher dues for their debit cars, and increased ATM charges, too. It's all part of a banking industry backlash against last year's consumer friendly financial reforms.