Banks demanding advance cash for checking accounts

People are going to have to pay advance cash to banks more often to use their checking accounts. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

People who bank with the nation’s largest banks are going to have to start paying advance cash for having a checking account. Free checking accounts are all but gone at major banks, now that U.S. Bank is rumored to be jumping on the account fee bandwagon. Increasing bank fees are a trend unlikely to cease.

Banks charging advance cash

Free checking accounts, from the customer’s standpoint, were far preferable to checking accounts with fees. It used to be an account holder simply had to pay for blank checks, they didn’t have to pay the bank advance cash to keep the account open for another month. Account holders at the nation’s largest banks can bid goodbye to those days, as free checking accounts are becoming a thing of the past. Bank of America, Wells Fargo and JP Morgan Chase all introduced new fees on checking accounts, and U.S. Bank is likely going to hop on the bandwagon, according to CNN. More people can expect to have to part with some instant cash to use their own money.

Get around fees

Avoiding bank fees is one of the more common reasons people take out a payday loan, but there are other ways around bank fees as well. Consumers should check with their banks to find out what loopholes they might be able to use to get around fees. For instance, check to see if a minimum balance can get any maintenance fees waived and whether monthly direct deposits can get fees waived. Some banks will waive account fees after a minimum number of purchases with a debit card.

Free checking will not die

Just because major banks are instituting fees does not mean free checking is going extinct. For instance, many community banks and credit unions offer free checking accounts and lower fees than major banks. Fees at those institutions go back into the community, not toward funding an executive ski chalet in Scottsdale, Arizona.