5 ways you may get nicked by bank fees

Thanks to new Federal Reserve rules, if you opt in, banks will cover your transaction for a flat fee each time you overdraw your checking account through the use of a debit or ATM card. Those bank fees, which run between $25 and $45 for major banks, can add up. For instance, Bank of America charges $35 per bounced check, a standard that many smaller banks have adopted, Hermens says.

In addition to the standard overdraft protection service, many banks offer overdraft protection plans, in which customers can link their checking accounts to savings accounts or lines of credit to cover overdrafts. But fees for these plans are rising in many cases, too. Wells Fargo customers are charged $10 every time they make an overdraft protection transfer from savings to checking. Last year, HSBC began charging checking account customers $10 for each day they used their line of credit for overdraft protection.

"Never bounce a check," Hermens says. "Sit down and do a weekly forecast of all your checks going out, your ATM withdrawals and when your payments are coming in. Get online banking and check your balance twice a week. If you don't have enough money, delaying a payment is almost always cheaper than bouncing a check."