New rules limit the fees banks and other financial institutions can charge on some services, so it’s possible that the costs of other services could go up. In the Spring 2010 issue of FDIC Consumer News, we discussed how to avoid potential interest rate and fee increases for credit cards. And here, with expectations that banks will be adding new fees or requirements on bank accounts — such as by discontinuing or limiting free checking services — we focus on ways that careful consumers can avoid unnecessary costs on their deposit accounts.
Because it’s hard to predict how banks will change their fees and policies for checking and savings accounts, what follows are basic strategies to keep costs down, many of which we have provided in the past but are especially worth revisiting now.
