Wells Fargo levies $7 fees on checking accounts

Banks are working hard to come up with ways and means to continue bringing in revenue despite the Federal Reserve imposing a number of restrictions. In its latest move, the Federal Reserve has curtailed the revenue that banks could generate in the form of interchange fees. Banks which used to rake in millions in the form of these fees have to now compromise on them. One of the ways in which banks are making up for this loss is by coming up with newer charges on checking accounts or increasing the existing fees. Most of the banks have also cut back on the debit card rewards programs which have not gone down well with a certain section of customers.

Bank of America first started the trend of increasing the monthly fees on checking accounts. When the $5 fee was announced, this bank faced fierce opposition from all quarters. The public outcry made banks such as JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo take a step back. Though these banks were ready to increase their checking account fees, they held back to observe the outcome. Now that things that settled down and people have grudgingly accepted these charges, Wells Fargo has announced its move to levy a $7 monthly fee on its checking accounts.

Wells Fargo is rolling out these fees in gradually across the states in the country. Though it started off just with a couple of states, today customers in at least 6 states have to pay these fees. Wells Fargo checking account holders in countries such as Delaware, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Georgia and New York are the ones who are currently affected.

However, there are certain checking accounts that are exempt from these charges. Customers who maintain a minimum daily balance of $1500 in their accounts or have a $500 direct deposit each month are exempt from these fees. Checking account holders can get a $2 exemption if they sign up for online monthly statements. These changes are due to come into effect from the month of May this year and customers can see these charges on their statements from June.