The banks have increased the ATM surcharges by $2.50 which is the highest increase recorded over the last eight years. Banks, in recent times, have also increased the fees for consumers using a competitor’s ATM to withdraw cash. The increase is of $1.57 or 11 percent as compared to the current fees. Therefore, customers will now have to pay $4.07 per transaction at a competitor’s ATM, which is  record high …

An arm of Pew Charitable Trusts, a nonprofit organization, has been requesting financial institutions to adopt voluntarily its model one-page disclosure form for more than a year. The model form summarizes policies and costs of checking accounts. The nonprofit trust points out that the disclosure forms of banks invariably run into dozens of pages with complex legal language and fine print sentences. This makes it nearly impossible for consumers to …