U.S. Banks -- What Gives??

As (I would hope) most of you know, back in August of 2010, banks were finally required to have customers "Opt-In" to their generous overdraft protection programs. This doesn't really come as a shock to me, as banks made over $38 billion in overdraft fees in 2009.

What does come as a shock to me are the crazy fees that they are coming up with in an effort to recoup some of those lost fees. One of Bank of America's fun new fees, the "heaven forbid you have to talk to a real teller" fee costs you $8.95 EVERY TIME you decide to interact with a person! Another fee, more specifically the fee that inspired me to post a blog entry on the subject, is by my second favorite bank, TD Bank. Yesterday I received a letter in the mail from TD Bank, informing me of the following "Important Information" regarding my checking account:

"Beginning March 9, 2011, when you use your TD Bank [debit card] to get cash at a non-TD Bank ATM, your account may be subject to ATM transaction fees from TD Bank and from the financial services provider who owns the ATM."

Really? So TD Bank... Does it really cost you $2 to process my ATM withdrawal from some other bank's ATM? Where are we headed with these fees? I guess the days of the "free" checking account, sign on bonuses and reasonable fees are a thing of the past. Too bad. I really liked those days.

I'm Back!!!

So... I haven't really posted to my blog recently.. And I've had more and more of those "aha!" moments where I realized, "this would be a perfect thing to blog about!". So here I am.. I'll try and start posting those thoughts out here.. Whether they'll be read? Who knows. ;)