FOSTER CITY, Calif.–A semi-annual survey of bank fees on checking accounts has found maintenance fees, overdraft fees and ATM fees have all declined nationally over the past six months.
According to the MoneyRates Bank Fees Survey, while recent years have generally been marked by increasing fees charged on checking accounts, the past half-year has been an exception.
“Checking accounts have a variety of ways of charging customers, and the new survey found that a number of the most common charges have been reduced,” according to MoneyRates.
Among the findings
- Monthly maintenance fees dropped to $13.25. The latest survey found that the average monthly maintenance fee had dropped by four centsto $13.25.
- Overdraft fees decreased 16 cents. “While overdraft fees remain a substantial expense for consumers with sloppy banking habits, they have at least eased slightly of late,” BankRates said. “The new survey found that they had dropped by 16 cents to an average of $32.22.”
- ATM fees also decline. BankRates said its survey found the average fee for using another bank's ATM dropped by 13 cents to $1.60 in the latest survey, while the average that banks charge non-customers for using their machines dropped by seven cents to $2.80.
- Majority of online accounts offer free checking. The monthly maintenance fees for online checking average $8.14, compared with $13.58 for traditional accounts. “Even more significantly, 61% of online checking accounts charge no monthly fee at all, compared with just 25% of traditional accounts.
- Average balance to waive fee almost $7,400 higher for traditional accounts. On average, it takes a balance of $1,633 to qualify for a fee waiver from an online account, compared to $9,029 from a traditional account.
- Large banks offer fewer free checking, charge bigger fees. The average maintenance fee at a large bank, defined as $15 billion in assets and larger, is $14.93, compared to $11.06 at medium-sized banks and $11.09 at small banks. “Even more significantly, large banks are the least likely to offer free checking. Just 24% of large bank checking accounts charge no monthly maintenance fee,” BankRates said. “About 28% of checking accounts at medium-sized banks offer free checking, but this becomes much more common when you move down in size to small banks. Nearly 41% of checking accounts at small banks have no monthly maintenance fee.”
The MoneyRates.com Bank Fees Survey is based on accounts offered by institutions in the MoneyRates Index of banks, which it said is a cross-section of the banking industry represented by 100 deposit institutions, including 50 large banks, 25 medium-sized banks and 25 small banks.