The 2010 Checking Study surveys bank and thrifts, and reports on the range of consumer fees that can be charged against a checking account including bounced check, ATM, and monthly services fees.

The full study may be found at:  http://www.bankrate.com/finance/checking/7-key-checking-trends-for-the-coming-year-1.aspx.

Key findings include:

• Checking overdraft fees now average $30.47, up 3% over the previous year;

• Monthly fee for not maintaining the required minimum balance increased 4% from an average of $12.55 to $13.04;

• The number of banks and thrifts offering free non-interest checking accounts – such as no minimum balance requirements or monthly fees – dropped to 65%, down from 76% in the previous year;
• The minimum balance requirement, to avoid monthly fees on non-interest checking accounts, now averages $249.50, up 34% from 2009 ($185.75).  
• For interest-bearing checking accounts, the average minimum balance requirement is now $3,883, up 15% from $3,372 in 2009.

Bankrate’s report now includes rankings of the top five cities across the U.S. in the categories of highest and lowest ATM and bounced check fees.  The report finds that:

 Bankrate.com surveyed one interest checking account and one non-interest checking account at the five largest banks and the five largest thrifts in 25 large U.S. markets to find the latest trends on checking account and ATM fees. There were 244 interest accounts and 233 non-interest accounts surveyed at 247 banks and thrifts.

Source:  www.bankrate.com