I had a checking account and savings account with Bank of America, but when I heard about the $5 debit card fee they were planning I started looking at my bank account and realized I was also being charged a $9 monthly maintenance fee.
So with this $5 fee coming, it was all adding up to be more money than I should be paying for a checking account. Plus, I live with roommates so each month I'm paying one roommate for rent and they're paying me for utilities so we're always transferring money and there are fees attached.
I had basically just been hemorrhaging money for all these little fees. When you give money to a bank, you think you'll be making a little money from interest. But I got three cents in interest in a month with Bank of America and at the same time lost $20 from fees.
So I started looking into other options. I originally had just a CD with ING Direct, but I was getting e-mails from them saying that there are zero fees. Right away I thought, every bank says there are zero fees -- this can't be true. But there really are zero fees -- no debit fee, no checking account fee, no transferring money fee. It seemed like a win-win.
When I called up Bank of America, they asked why I wanted to close my account and I said because of all the fees. She said she was sorry to hear that and that I could switch to a savings account or a credit card. But I want to use my debit card, not a credit card! So I withdrew all my money and transferred it over to ING and I've been very happy in the short time I've been a customer there.
While other banks are busy hiking fees, these financial institutions are bucking the trend by offering free checking and other perks.
