What a deal!

The empty suits in DC bail-out some large banks with $70,000,000 of our hard-earned tax bucks...and what do WE get?

Another round of bank fees!

Thanks a lot!

The latest announced fee increase coming from Bank of America...a $5 monthly charge, starting in 2012, to access our own money with a debit card!

And, we believe, that more niggling fees will soon be coming down the pike.

Be ready for the ultimate demise of free checking and larger fees for overdrafts and ATM use...among others.

As an example...only 45% of non-interest checking accounts are free - down from 65% in 2010.

The Bank of America "$5 monthly fee" has spurred many Americans to consider alternatives to dealing with large money-center banks pressed to generate huge profits.

So...what can we do to avoid the becoming hostages to current and "to come" spiraling bank fees?

• Check the fees at your local credit union...check out our article "5 Ways Credit Unions are better than Your Bank."
• Check out smaller local banks that are keeping their fees low in order to attract unhappy "big banks" customers.
• Look into online banks.  A number of them (among them, ING Direct and ALLY Bank) offer free checking...again competing (effectively) for clients at the large banks.
  
  Here's an overview of the highest-rated online banks from the folks at Kiplinger. 

BOTTOM LINE:

Be on the lookout for the announcement of new fees in mailings and then on bank statements.

Start shopping around NOW because both because it's only get MORE expensive to deal with large banks in the future, and lots of smaller banks, credit unions and online bank are now aggressively marketing to disenchanted, fee-frustrated clients of large financial institutions.

Have you left your bank because of rising fees, or another reason?  We'd love to hear about it! Leave your story in the comments below!

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