Is this you savoring a little bit of smartly saved cash? Or is it your banker about to clear out your account and hit you with an overdraft fee? Whatever the case, knowing when to switch banks -- or simply stay -- can lead to a better overall banking experience.

Most bankers will tell you that consumers don’t switch banks like they do socks and they are right. No matter how much they dislike bankers or financial news it will take quite a bit. One thing that will make consumers and business change to a different bank is the fees that are being charged by their bank.

Last year nearly 2/3 of all banking customers reported they paid $3 or less for their monthly bank account maintenance fees according to the American Bankers Association. However, a spokesperson for the same organization remarked that will be changing very soon. Many banks are attempting to restore their profits to their pre-banking crisis levels which they believe can only be done with increasing customer’s bank fees. Banking fees are a major consumer consideration for switching banks.

Banks have already raised credit card fees, late payment fees and rates for penalties.  Old school banking put a majority of banking fee costs on checking accounts and it appears we are going back to old school for banking profits. 

Bounced check fees rose by almost 2%, ATM fees were dramatically increased to 12.7% and monthly maintenance fees rose 5% over last year. If banking fees are making you consider switching banks there are several things you should consider before changes are made.

Giants in the industry like Citigroup are adding back in fees that were once waived in basic or free checking accounts for those that happen to fall below a minimum balance requirement. Citigroup mentioned that they would reinstate their monthly fee for EZ Checking customers who had a balance below $1500. Any customer that couldn’t maintain this minimum balance would pay out $90 a year for the checking account with Citigroup.

JP Morgan is another banking giant with a $1500 balance for their Better Banking checking accounts. If you cannot maintain the $1500 balance for your checking account with JP Morgan, but can maintain a $5000 balance when combining the checking with an investment, loan or deposit for the month you can avoid the $12 monthly fee. Paying the $12 monthly fee could amount to a $144 yearly expense for your checking account.

Bank of America’s My Access checking is free of charge when you open the account online or else customers have an $8.95 monthly fee. The fee of $8.95 is an increase over their $5.95 fee from last year amounting to nearly $72 dollars per year.

If increased fees have you considering changing banks or the type of account you currently have with your bank there are several things you should consider:

• What are your banking needs? If you merely need a checking account for a debit card, basic checking and bill pay, look for accounts that don’t charge a monthly fee if your balance is below a certain amount. Some banks will charge a nominal fee per check or debit transactions after a specified amount of freebies per month. There are tons of websites to help with searching for these.
• What are your ATM needs? How many branches and ATM machines are located in your area or locale? If you have a lot of ATM transactions that require you to pay a fee to your bank and the bank providing the ATM machine, you can stack up an expensive overall monthly fee. Many banks will charge you for the permission to use their ATM machines. When these fees are added to what your bank charges you per ATM transaction you could be spending up to $5 per transaction on average. Multiply this fee by your monthly transactions for a customer using their ATM card quite a bit and a simple process like using the ATM could be very expensive. Know your ATM needs and pick the best bank to satisfy these.
• How well do you manage your accounts? Do you overdraft quite a bit or have overdraft protection? In 2010 banks raked in almost $40 billion in overdraft fees. There are one time charges that average $27 for every bounced check or debit overdraft fees as high as $35 an item for each bank. With nearly all banks presenting an item more than once a couple of these charges are almost $100 in one month per customer. Banks were reported to be charging on average more than Usury Laws in many states and bank regulators are in an uproar over the practices.
  Bank regulators instituted new rules surrounding overdraft fees and policies compelling many banks to alter these policies and charges and requiring a customer’s consent to overdraft protection instead of automatically offering it. Critics of overdraft practices in the past viewed it as disproportionately hitting those customers that lived on extremely tight finances.
• Overdraft charges and fees were how most banks were able to deliver free checking for all and the push to regulate these has obliged many banks to reconsider how they will charge for checking accounts overall.
  Ways that customers can protect themselves besides overdraft protection is email or mobile alerts for low account balances.  Of course, ideally all checking accounts should be balanced all of the time.  However, there may be times when you are off in your accounting balances or a check that should have been deposited wasn’t.   Notifications are a double checking of your accounting and shouldn’t be discounted.  If you never have a low account balance you won’t receive a notification and you haven’t lost anything.
• Make certain you are with a bank that is covered by FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) insurance. Many of the bank failures and foreclosures are expected to continue. Therefore, make sure your monies are safe whether you stay with your current bank or switch to another one.

If you are considering switching your bank, consider several things before making your move. These tools and techniques highlight many of the things customers will see the most advantage or disadvantage with a banking institution when making a change.

If you have specific needs that address your personal or business account that you couldn’t live without take these into consideration also. Make any modifications that will benefit you the most.