Where To Go When The Banks Kill Free Checking

According to this story via Yahoo and the Wall Street Journal - End Is Seen to Free Checking - Bank of America and other major banks are considering setting up new rules in order to squeeze more money in fees from its customers in order to make up for lost income due to new government banking regulations.

I'd like to make a couple of notes. First, while the banks are jerks for doing this, it is government interference which is screwing We, The People, over the most. Regulations are not cost-free as most politicians seem to believe but extraordinarily expensive meddling by politicians into our personal lives.

Second, banks are not the only place to store your money. Credit Unions which are non-profit financial entities that offer just about all the services your average bank does (as far as the average consumer is concerned) but operates for the benefit of its members which means decent interest paid on savings (and sometimes checking), low fees, and many other benefits all while covered by FDIC insurance. I've been a credit union member for years and years precisely because the big banks suck so much.

Finally, during the worst of the financial crisis, my credit union was advertising that it had millions to loan. The smaller banks and credit unions have weathered the storm precisely because they didn't meddle about with investment banking nonsense. Why should bank customers pay for the greed of a large bank's corporate decisions?

So this piece is to remind all financial customers that you do not have to stay with your big corporate bank which is now actively looking to suck you dry with multiple bank fees, check out your local credit unions. Chances are there is one you can join. You are not a trapped customer but a consumer free to shop around for what best fits your financial needs.

What best fits my financial needs if a nonprofit banking entity that doesn't attempt to nickel and dime my banking accounts dry so they can pay for their negligence and risky behavior.