Just for fun:
NYT, 1989 wrote:
Banks have been increasing fees steadily since 1982, but bankers say their complicated fee structures make it difficult to assess the increases nationally. [...] The federation estimates that fees for NOW accounts, the interest-bearing checking accounts, increased by a national average of 56 percent from 1984 through 1988.
Fee increases are often hidden in average monthly balance requirements. Chemical Bank, for example, raised its fees in April by increasing the minimum average balance needed to qualify for free checking to $3,000 from $1,000. Consumers who do not have $3,000 in savings have to pay a monthly charge of $7.50 plus 25 cents for each check or transaction that involves an automatic teller machine.
Congressional Subcommittee on Credit & Finance, 1993 wrote:
Today lenders are charging higher fees for more services, even though tney are enjoying record profits and lower costs through technological innovation. Last year, banks earned $15.2 billion on fees alone. That is an increase of almost 50 percent from 4 years earlier and an increase of 100 percent since 1985. More and more banks are depending on these fees to boost their bottom line. Ten years ago, fees comprised about 25 percent of a bank's total income. Last year fees made up a third of that income.
LA Times, 1997 wrote:
Intensifying the debate over rising bank fees, a study released Thursday says consumers at big banks now pay on average $218 a year for a checking account--almost $30 more than small banks charge.
The survey, by the California Public Interest Research Group, found that banks and savings and loans of all sizes nationwide had boosted fees for products and services, including access to tellers and telephone calls to obtain account information. But CalPIRG's report concludes that multi-state banks and other large institutions were stepping up the fees more sharply and making it even tougher for consumers to avoid them by setting higher minimum balance requirements than smaller banks.
PIRG, 1999 wrote:
The average annual cost of maintaining a regular checking account has risen to more than $217 in 1999, according to a national report released today by the U.S Public Interest Research Group (PIRG). Bank profits have broken new records for the last eight calendar years, reaching nearly $62 billion in 1998, with fee income a growing piece of the profit pie, yet banks continue to increase customer account fees and charge hidden new fees, according to the U.S. PIRG report. [...] Nationally, fees charged by big banks for their own customers to use other banks' ATM machines (called “off-us†fees) increased to $1.27 in 1999 from $1.19 in 1997. At small banks, off-us fees rose to $1.03 in 1999, from $0.91 in 1997. Off-us fees averaged $1.14 overall. Nationally, ATM surcharges imposed on other banks' customers were $1.35 at big banks in 1999. Small banks imposed surcharges of $1.08 in 1999.
USA Today, 2005 wrote:
Not everyone is so lucky. Last year, banks, thrifts and credit unions collected a record $37.8 billion in service charges on accounts, more than double what they got in 1994, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the National Credit Union Administration. These fees provide a more stable source of income to banks than products tied to fluctuating interest rates.
Bounced-check and ATM fees are setting records. Consumers are paying higher service charges for checking accounts. Banks are requiring higher balances on interest-bearing accounts, Bankrate.com says. And banks that issue credit cards are increasing fees for late payments and over-the-limit charges to as much as $39 per violation. Make this mistake once or twice, and your interest rate could hit 30%.
"These are not things that are subject to price competition," says Greg McBride of Bankrate.com. "No bank is going to advertise low bounced-check fees."
CNN, 2007 wrote:
ATM fees are at an all time high, costing consumers $4.2 billion in 2006, and more banks are announcing plans to raise them even higher. [...] Last week for example, Bank of America (Charts, Fortune 500) said it was boosting surcharges for non-customers at most of its ATMs nationwide to $3 from $2.
NPR, 2008 wrote:
Banks charge consumers more in fees every year. Last year, banks collected $38.6 billion in service charges, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.[...]The Government Accountability Office issued a report earlier this year stating that some of these fees increased 10 percent since 2000. The GAO found it was very hard to get clear information about the terms of the fees, and it called for greater disclosure.
But THIS time, they just had no choice because of that legislation or else they NEVER EVER would have jacked up the fees and placed more restrictions... HONEST!
Edited, Mar 10th 2011 6:55pm by Jophiel