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.
Proposed banking reforms will create a consumer financial protection bureau that sets rules for all financial transactions, such as lower costs for debit card use to merchants. But less revenue for banks may mean higher fees for consumers.
Banks? insatiable appetite for fee income may be swaying many consumers to use prepaid debit cards to avoid high, unfair fees, to gain control of debt and to gain access to banking services more cheaply.
