Bank and thrift customers are paying record-high fees for three very common products and services, according to the 2015 Checking Survey released by Bankrate Monday. Here's a look what Bankrate, which evaluated 10 banks and thrifts in each of 25 large U.S. markets from July 9 to Aug. 5 this year, found.
1. ATM fees now average almost $5 for some transactions.
According to Bankrate, the average ATM charge for noncustomers is now $2.88 – up by 4% since last year. The average bank fee for using an out-of-network ATM is $1.64, making the total $4.52 for those customers, the study said. The fee has risen 21% over the past five years, Bankrate said.
Atlanta had the highest average ATM fees ($5.15) and San Francisco had the lowest ($3.85), according to the report.
2. Average overdraft fees are now well over $30.
Average overdraft fees at banks and thrifts have risen by 1% since last year and 9% since 2010 to a record-setting $33.07, Bankrate found.
"The most common overdraft fee is $35, but some institutions are venturing higher in search of more revenue," Bankrate said.
Milwaukee has the nation's highest average overdraft fee ($34.79) and San Francisco has the lowest ($30.35), it noted.
3. Minimums for interest checking are more than $6,000.
Bankrate said the average required minimum balance on interest checking hit an all-time high of $6,362, and the average monthly fee for failing to meet the minimum threshold hit an all-time high of $15.24.
Free checking is increasingly hard to find as well. Only 37% of banks and thrifts surveyed offered free checking accounts "with no strings attached" in 2015, down from 38% in 2014, Bankrate said.
"Not in the 12 years Bankrate has been studying it have so few banks offered real free checking – a checking account with no monthly fee, regardless of your balance or whether you do direct deposit," it said.
The study found an additional 58% of noninterest checking accounts can become free if customers meet certain requirements, such as direct deposit. But the average monthly fee on those accounts is $5.86 for those who don't secure a fee waiver, which Bankrate said is up by 11% from last year. Free checking peaked in 2009 (76%), it said.
The survey attributed the rise in fees to the cost of regulation and in-branch transactions.
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