maintenance fees - Free Checking Information

The recent results of the semiannual MoneyRates.com Bank Fee Survey are turning conventional wisdom on its head. Despite claims that free checking is dead, the latest findings show that 44.2 percent of checking accountssurveyed have no monthly maintenance fees.

Industry observers had speculated that new banking regulations being implemented in the past year would signal the end of widespread free checking accounts. As the federal government continues cracks down on excessive bank fees and perceived predatory practices, many experts surmised that banks would begin tacking on checking maintenance fees to boost profits.

However, the MoneyRates.com Bank Fee Survey finds that the proportion of banks offering free checking has remained virtually unchanged between January 2010 and July 2010.

Continue reading… from MoneyRates.com via prweb

This week Bankrate released its 2010 Checking Study, and it turns out a number of banks are phasing out free checking by introducing minimum balances or monthly maintenance fees.

This shift away from free checking may be due in part to new Fed rules requiring customers to opt in for overdraft protection on debit cards and new limits on how much banks can charge merchants for processing debit card transactions. Being that overdraft fees and debit interchange fees are among the largest sources of revenue for banks these days, it’s not unreasonable to expect banks to make some changes to the way they do business.

That said, getting rid of free checking might not be the best way to make up the difference. A recent study commissioned by the financial services firm USAA found free checking is really, really important to consumers.

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