Bankrate.com surveyed the top five banks and top five thrifts in 10 of the largest markets to find out what fees they charge for check card use. We also surveyed reward programs and fraud and loss protection coverage. The survey was done by Heather Kuhn and Karen Harabin.

Survey results Select the market:   Boston Chicago Dallas DC Metro Detroit Houston Los Angeles New York Philadelphia San Francisco   New York Bank name Offer check card? (Y/N) Annual fee for check card? POS fee for PIN ($) POS fee for sign ($) Offer rewards program? (Y/N) Fraud/loss protection? (Y/N) Bank of America Y None $0 $0 Y Y Chase Bank Y None $0 $0 Y Y Citibank Y None $0 $0 Y Y HSBC Bank USA Y None $0 $0 N Y North Fork Bank Y None $0 $0 Y Y Astoria Federal Savings and Loan Assn Y None $1 each $0 N Y Emigrant Savings Bank Y None $0 $0 N Y New York Community Bank dba Queens County Savings Bank Y None $0 $0 Y Y Sovereign Bank New England Y None $0 $0 N Y Washington Mutual Bank Y None $0 $0 Y Y