Do you feel like you're getting ripped off by your bank? You're not alone.
More than one in three people who have a checking account at a big national bank, like Bank of America or Chase, feels scammed by bank fees, according to a recent consumer banking study. And given the fact that bank fees continue to climb, it's no wonder people are feeling ripped off.
According to the study, monthly service fees are the most hated of bank fees. These are those super-annoying charges banks impose on you simply for putting your money in their vaults. In recent years, bank account fees have gotten more and more common.
They've also gotten bigger, and the minimum amount of money you have to have to avoid them has climbed. The average monthly maintenance fee for a checking account was $12.87 in the last six months of 2014 -- up 18 cents from the six months prior, according to MoneyRates.com. The average minimum amount you have to have to avoid paying this fee is $5,708.76, an increase of $268.76 over the first half of 2014.
ATM fees are the second most-hated fee according to the survey, which was conducted in January by Harris Poll on behalf of Kasasa, a brand of checking accounts that are offered at community banks. Harris surveyed more than 1,000 U.S. adults online.
While high bank fees are certainly one reason for why people feel so ripped off, a lingering distrust of the financial markets also has something to do with it. According to the Kasasa survey, 68 percent of adults don't think Wall St. made up for its role in the financial collapse, and 64 percent of people don't trust banks to work in their best interest.
That's probably because Americans are still feeling the long-term effects of the Great Recession. Despite the fact that the job market has largely improved and the stock market continues to beat records, real people's wallets haven't quite recovered.
In fact, 30 percent of Americans say they haven't financially recovered from the recession, which technically ended almost six years ago.