Get the Best Rates, But Watch Out for Fees, Too

Jennifer Waters at MarketWatch.com had a nice story the other day about how banks are hiking up a variety of fees as they attempt to return to profitability. Fees are something that anyone who’s interested in the best CD rates or the best savings account rates should be watching closely, as high fees can cancel out a high interest rate real quick.

According to the MarketWatch story, late fees, loan origination, over-the-limit and overdraft charges accounted for 53 percent of banking industry income in 2008. This is quite a shocking number, considering that in 1995, the percentage of bank income that came from those sources was 35 percent.

Bank Fees to Watch For

Potential deposit account fees to keep an eye on include:

– Checking Account Fees

Yes, the return of the non-free checking account may be upon us.

– Excessive Use of Tellers Fee

– Premature Account Closure Fee

– Annual Fee

For example, $25 per year per savings account. It happens.

– Overdraft Fee

This one can be especially painful, as overdraft fees have been rising in recent years, sometimes as high as $50 per incident.