I have noticed that it is important to shop around when looking for a checking or savings accounts. The banks have various fees for maintaining these accounts. Some charge a monthly fee. Others charge a fee if your balance drops below a certain point.

Fees are certainly a shopping point - what really annoys me though is how low the interest rates are with a lot of banks.

I mean, seriously - banks pay a hefty percentile under the base interest rate that they could simply reloan that same money at a higher interest and never really deal with the Bank of England at all. In fact, I figure that's what a lot of them are doing.

Hope not, as that sounds too much like a Ponzi scheme!

I saw a report on the fiasco about the service fees. People are banding together and they are going to fight this en mass..which it said in the report “is not like the Britons to get that aggressive”...(or something to that effect). Good for them!

I'm sick and tired of fees, thats all banks do. They'll charge you a fee with their eyes closed, and ask questions later. I wish I didn't have to deal with banks, if only paypal had check cashing services for free .

Many of the banks in America now offer free checking and savings accounts - no matter what your balance is. I opened one today that gives me free checking, online banking, savings, and a debit card - for no fee. Just tell your bank to change your account to a no fee, or you'll find a bank willing to do just that. You are the consumer in this situation after all.

This is very true, my father account went below 6,000 and they charge him 75 dollars monthly.