Community Corner

Are Banking, ATM, Checking Fees Unrealistically High Now?

The average cost of an out-of-network ATM transaction is $4.07. Should something be done?

Fees on checking accounts hit an all-time high in 2012, reports the financial website Bankrate.com, with much of the increase coming in charges for use of out-of-network ATMs. According to the side, the average fee assessed by the owner of a foreign ATM climbed 4 percent this year to $2.50.

Combined with the typical charge by a consumer's own bank for an out-of-network withdrawal — $1.57, up 11 percent — the average cost per transaction now stands at a whopping $4.07.

And for the first time ever, all financial institutions surveyed by Bankrate.com reported charging non-customers for ATM transactions.

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Other checking account expenses — such as maintenance fees and non-sufficient funds fees — also have risen, due in part to banks' response to new regulations capping overdraft fees.

Do you think it's time regulators stepped in again and capped these fees, or is over-regulation partly responsible for driving up other fees in the first place? Tell us in the comments section below. 

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