Interest account fees tougher to avoid
The balance that account holders must keep to avoid fees on interest accounts continues to increase to stratospheric levels. Since last year's survey, the average balance requirement to avoid fees on an interest account jumped almost 25 percent, from $2,660.49 to $3,316.60. Imagine keeping more than $3,300 in a low-yielding account, just to avoid fees! There were 31 banks increasing the balance requirement and just nine decreasing it since the last survey.

Balance required to avoid fees (interest)

Avoiding noninterest account fees easier
The average balance requirement to avoid fees in a noninterest account fell for the fourth consecutive survey, dropping to a record low of $155.49. This is in stark contrast to interest-bearing checking accounts. Of the 226 noninterest accounts surveyed, 154 accounts (68 percent) have no balance requirement at all -- a hallmark of free checking accounts.

Balance required to avoid fees (noninterest)