Bank Fees Up From 2 Years Ago, Survey Says

People who don’t maintain a minimum balance in their checking accounts are paying an average of $217.32 a year in various bank charges, up 9% from $199.79 two years ago, according to a U.S. Public Interest Research Group survey released Thursday.

Consumers with accounts at big banks are paying on average 16% more than customers of smaller banks, the consumer group said in its latest annual survey of bank fees.

An official of the American Bankers Assn. disputed the consumer group’s findings, calling them “incredibly misleading and exaggerated.”

The survey numbers “assume a series of worst-case scenarios that include numerous bounced checks and other exceptional charges,” Donald Ogilvie, executive vice president of the bankers’ group, said. “The fact is consumers today are smart about their relationships with their financial institutions.”

Ogilvie said a June survey of 1,000 consumers by his group found that more than half of them spend less than $3 a month on bank fees, often by using direct deposit of their paychecks or “no-frills” checking accounts.

The U.S. PIRG survey comes as Congress edges toward a final vote on sweeping legislation that would lift Depression-era legal barriers and allow banks, securities firms and insurance companies to merge.

Many consumer groups, including PIRG, have opposed it, saying it would increase the concentration of financial power in a few big corporations.

“Banks are punishing consumers with a relentless onslaught of more and higher fees,” said Ed Mierzwinski, PIRG’s consumer program director. “Worse, many banks are hiding fee increases by adding new fees for services that used to come standard with your checking account.”

He said the new charges include monthly ATM card fees, canceled check fees and fees for telephoning the bank or closing an account.

“Congress will make the problem worse if it approves” the financial overhaul legislation, which would make big banks bigger, he said.

The survey of 526 banks in 33 states, including California, and the District of Columbia, also found the average cost to maintain a regular checking account at a credit union is $111.59 a year, compared with the $217.32 average at banks.