More lenders are introducing fees on checking accounts, just as consumers and business are pouring record amounts into the most basic of banking services, the Wall Street Journal reported today. After regulators made it harder for banks to collect debit-card fees and new laws led to higher compliance costs, banks have been looking for different sources of income. Recent evidence suggests that one of them is the humble checking account, an entry-level service offered to most customers. About 41 precedent of U.S. financial institutions aren't offering unconditional free checking accounts this year, up eight percentage points from a year earlier, according to Moebs Services, an economic-research firm in Lake Bluff, Ill. The firm surveyed 2,890 institutions, including large and small banks and credit unions, in January. The last time free checking was harder to come by was in 2002.
