Fees associated with bank checking accounts have generally increased in the past six months, according to MoneyRates.com, a personal finance website that has been around since 1998.
The organization, based in Foster City, Calif., reports the average monthly maintenance fee on a checking account is $13.24 per month compared to $12.83 six months ago; the average overdraft fee is $32.84 compared to $32.63, and the cost to use an out-of-network ATM now averages $4.57 per transaction compared to $4.55.
While overall trends emerge from the data, fees fluctuate. For example, the average monthly fee on a checking account was $13.29 in March of 2016, five cents higher than today’s fee; also, the fee to use an out-of-network ATM was $4.60, three cents higher than the current fee.
Over time, the number of checking accounts without monthly maintenance fees is declining, MoneyRates.com reports. Five years ago, 36.63 percent of all checking accounts had no monthly fee. Today, that percentage is down to 27.88 percent. Over the same period, the average balance requirement to qualify for a fee waiver has increased to $11,845 today compared to $4,013 five years ago.
Online checking accounts are generally more economical than traditional accounts. MoneyRates.com says 69.57 percent of online checking accounts have no monthly fees, compared with 24.76 percent of traditional, branch-based accounts.
MoneyRates.com compiled data from 300 checking account products offered by 90 banks to produce the report.