Cost Alert: Bank of America adds $12 fee to e-banking checking accounts

Announced this week, Bank of America is ending free checking for e-banking accounts that don’t maintain a minimum daily balance of $1,500 OR have a monthly direct deposit of at least $250. Bank of America will start charging customers $12-a-month who don’t meet those conditions.

These e-banking accounts were originally created in 2010 in order to attract customers that were looking for a digital-only experience. Customers that wanted to visit branches or receive paper statements were asked to pay an additional $8.95 fee for the privilege.

While students under 24 will be able to get the fee waived by a Bank of America associate, this still impacts a large number of BoA consumers. At this time, a Change.org petition has gathered nearly 50,000 names protesting the change in policy.

Beyond the $12 “Monthly Maintenance Fee,” BoA has a variety of other charges that can impact consumers like a $35 overdraft fee, a $30 stop payment fee, a $2.50 out-of-network ATM fee and several others.

Consumers using e-banking may want to consumer shifting to an online-only bank. For instance, options like Aspiration Summit or Radius Hybrid offer the ability to earn interest on checking accounts (between 0.85% to 1%) with a minimum $2,500 monthly balance. Simple offers a $0 monthly fee account with free access to 40,000 ATMs. Discover also offer a $0 monthly fee account, but also offers 1% cashback on all debit card purchases linked to that account.

NerdWallet does a good job of maintaining lists of the best accounts, if you are looking for reviews -> LINK. Consider your local credit union as well. Most offer competitive rates compared to corporate banks.