More Words Over Checking Account Fees
More Words Over Checking Account Fees
The U.S. Public Interest Research Group (U.S. PIRG), continues to lash out at the banking industry. In a report released last month U.S. PIRG notes that banks are raising checking account fees at double-digit rates in the face of single-digit inflation.
The report also urges consumers to consider shifting their checking accounts out of banks and into credit unions.
Bankers of course do not believe that the report is accurate nor that there is anything to the debate, noting that the data U.S. PIRG collected is highly questionable.
The U.S. PIRG study compared the fees charged by 271 banks in 25 states and the District of Columbia, and believes their data supports their conclusion. "The banks surveyed, just the big banks alone, account for 41% of deposits, nationally," says Janice Shields, a U.S. PIRG consultant and co-author of the fee survey report.
The cost to maintain a regular checking account, says U.S. PIRG, grew 10% between 1993 and 1995, to $202 a year, while monthly maintenance fees on these accounts rose 22% to $7.11. Average monthly balances required to avoid fees on regular checking accounts grew 30% between 1993 and 1995, from $958 to $1,242.
* No-frills checking accounts increased the least, growing only 6% nationally. But at a cost of $144 a year, and a minimum of $69 required to open a no-frills account, U.S. PIRG claims these accounts are out of the reach of consumers who do not currently have a checking account.
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