America Banks Free Checking Accounts - Best Checking Accounts in USA Bailout

So we had the great bailouts and nationalization of the banks. Whose money went towards that? Yes, yours the American taxpayer. The world has been put in a precarious state by the subprime fraudsters. I sit here reading the Wall Street Journal and am appalled that free checking accounts are about to end. Hardly free though when you consider we have lost so much of expected our services from these government bailouts. It can hardly be free when we effectively have paid for the banks survival and their ongoing salaries and bonuses. European banks are also being put to the hammer because of these trillion dollar losses. 

Yet the very few benefits that we get, like free checking accounts the consumer is expected to pay for? Here is another example of the one-way traffic the bankers lay on the people. Bank of America Corp and other American banks are set to eliminate free checking. They also plan to introduce new fees on basic banking services. Their argument is to replace the revenue lost to new banking regulations. When you consider regulations they are really about tax collecting. A bit rich when these are effectively nationalized banks using our taxpayer dollars.

The backbone of the U.S. banking system is retail clients. They provide basically free money to the banking monoliths. However here they are going to be asked to pay new monthly maintenance fees. The amount will be charged on the most basic bank accounts. These are accounts that don’t generate much activity. Meaning that the accounts require not a lot of maintenance by the bank.

In classic manipulation customers will have to maintain account balances levels to avoid a fee. If they utilize other banking services they may also avoid the new account fees. So basically run up other fees on your credit, debit or ATM card and you get free checking. 

The Wall Street Journal quoting industry estimates said it costs banks between $250 and $300 a year to maintain each of its checking accounts. There is estimated to be about 200 million checking accounts in America.

New Banking Overdraft Regulations

With the outcry of high overdraft fees being charged to unsuspecting customers new laws have been fashioned. I wonder  why the outcry? Banks will have to receive customer permission before levying an overdraft fee. Not sure how this will work in practice though.

Bank of America has already announced that it will suspend overdraft fee charges on all debit card transactions. This will apply when the new regulations kick in. Bank of America is revamping its checking-overdraft program in the face of new restrictions. That being said what is bothersome is the customer really gets no added benefit from these new regulations passed by congress. Seems the net result is just more window dressing with pomp and ceremony.

I then flip over the news and see the enforced BP recovery fund, and enforced withdrawal of the BP dividend to shareholders. Now I am all for BP paying for the crime, along with the other culprits. However this government political charade is fooling no one. I wonder why I feel a chill right now. It is one think to pull in the excesses of capitalism it is another to tell companies want to do at the expense of the people. 

We have two glaring examples here with the last remnants of a bank with a feeling for the community. Now we have a government telling an international corporation what to do. It would make sense if we knew we the people would be in a better situation from all this big government intervention. Is there no end to what the US government will meddle and eliminate. Both cases are the result of government ineptitude.

We have these new laws and when all is said and done we the people get no real beneficial change. We actually get more fees, less income and dictated terms. Bank of America free checking accounts to end; consumers are expected to pay more. Taxpayer largesse, why are we not surprised?