More Strings Attached to ‘Free’ Checking Accounts

(LA Times) — The days of free checking accounts in America are waning.  New laws that reduce overdraft fees and the charges that banks impose on merchants for handling transactions are cutting deep into bank revenues, prompting many financial institutions to add charges or extra conditions on their checking accounts. The portion of checking accounts offered by banks for “free,” with no monthly service charge or minimum balance, fell from 76% last year to 65% this year, according to a new national study of big banks by the website Bankrate.com.

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