Banks once made the bulk of their money from loans and investments. Now a huge percentage comes from fees they charge customers. Here's a partial list: Transaction and transfer fees, late fees, overdraft fees, ATM fees, debt card fees, bounced check fees, account maintenance fees, card replacement fees, check book reconciliation fees, early account closing fees, cash advance fees, safe deposit box (plus forced entry and lost key replacement) fees, garnishment fees, returned deposit fees, stop payment fees PLUS charges for cashiers checks, deposit envelopes, money orders, coin machine usage, deposit bags, etc. etc. etc...

The Bank Fees Poem

A bank was once a place you went
To borrow for a need;
Its profits came from lending,
That was its bus'ness creed.

These days to feed its bottom line
A new idea's been crafted;
On all bank services you'll find
Fat fees have now been grafted.

You pay these fees on credit cards.
There's debit card fees, too;
You know you're getting shafted
But there's nothing you can do.

They nick you when you bounce a check,
You're nicked by others' bounce;
The banks get richer either way,
They bleed you ounce by ounce.

There's fees to use an ATM,
There's levied fees on checking;
To open, close, maintain accounts
You'll take another pecking.

And what makes all this possible?
What gave this game its birth?
Tax dollars we spent saving banks:
Did we get our money's worth?

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©2011 Michael Silverstein