Has this economy made you look more closely at fees and unessential services? Earlier this year, the Credit Card Act was enacted to help consumers That was good for you, but your creditors lost sources of income They want to take that money back The next wave of consumer fees is about to begin (or may have even started).

Banks are upping their fees Here are some examples:

Do you have totally free checking? That’s probably going to change You will need to keep more money on deposit to qualify for free checking.

Do you prefer to make your deposits and payments in person? There could be a fee to use a bank teller.

Do you receive paper statements and cancelled checks by mail? The bank may start charging you for that.

Do you have overdraft protection? Previously, you only paid a fee when you used the service That’s changing My bank now charges $1.50 per month for the privilege of overdraft protection Some banks are even charging you to link your savings and checking together for overdraft protection, along with the additional fee for actually using the service.

Want to open an overdraft protection account for the first time? That could cost you a fee as well.

Banks are implementing these changes to increase their revenue, so watch your statement closely (you should be doing this anyway) Read the inserts in your statements Call to question new fees, and if you’ve already been charged, ask for reimbursement.

If your bank account is costing you too much money, find out what you can do to avoid the new fees If all else fails, take your bank accounts elsewhere There are still banks with good lending and investment practices These banks don’t need to overcharge their customers to make money.