Personal Finance Advice and Commentary

Americans say they’d prefer to pay a small fee every time they use their checking account rather than the monthly flat fee they pay now.

Banks hope a la carte pricing will make paying for checking accounts more palatable to customers.

Fearing a backlash, Bank of America delays plans to impose a flat monthly fee on basic checking.

Banks blame new regulations for falling fee revenue, but consumers might be getting better at avoiding fees, too.

It’s almost enough to make you feel sorry for the banks. Consumer advocates and government officials often extol the value of transparency and easy-to-understand disclosures when it comes to financial services. Here’s CFPB Director Richard Cordray in a January interview with Candice Choi of The Associated Press: On transparency and disclosure; a key insight here