Record High

According to Bankrate.com's latest survey of large banks and thrifts, ATM fees have hit a record high and, despite rising interest rates, interest checking accounts still don't add up. In short, consumers are finding that money sometimes comes out of their checking accounts faster than it goes in.

The study's key findings are:

• The fee for using the "wrong" automated teller machine - one owned by a bank where you don't have an account - hit an all-time record high. You'll be hit twice for a single withdrawal once by that other bank's ATM fee and once by your own bank, for a total average fee of $2.91. Bankrate.com estimates that American consumers will pay more than $4.3 billion in withdrawal fees for using ATMs not owned by their own bank in 2005.
  
• Bounced-check fees have gotten sneakier. While the average insufficient funds fee fell a few cents, from $27.13 to $26.90, Bankrate found more banks are instituting tiered fees that ramp up the more often you bounce a check or leave a check uncovered. Even at $26.90, the bounced-check fee remains the second-highest recorded since Bankrate began surveying checking accounts in 1998.
  
• Interest-bearing checking accounts remain an unattractive option, where you have to pay a lot more to open an account and lock up a lot more money to gain a pittance in interest.