Big banks are trying to stick it to you one way or the other. Watch your statement. If new fees start showing up, fire them. Find a new bank. From the NYT:

Even the much-maligned debit usage charges have effectively been bundled into higher monthly fees on checking accounts. Bank of America abandoned its $5 a month debit card usage fee in late October amid a firestorm of criticism. Yet, it more quietly raised the cost of its basic MyAccess checking account by more than $3 a month earlier this year. Monthly maintenance fees now run $12 a month, up from $8.95.

Chase and Citigroup, which quickly distanced themselves from the debit card usage fee, ratcheted up the price of their entry-level checking products without the public relations nightmare. This month, Citigroup’s basic checking account jumped to $10 a month, up from $8. Chase raised the fee on its standard checking account to $12 a month in February; many of those customers were previously charged nothing at all.

This is from a February 13 Hancock column on bank fees:

It was the fee for confirming her balance that prompted her to write a letter to top bank officials. She needed the account information on bank stationery for her daughter's financial-aid application for college.

That'll be $25, said the branch folks.

"I've been with this bank since it was Union Trust," Foreman remembers saying, after she objected to the fee.

"Well, I'm a Wells Fargo employee, and you have to give me $25," replied a branch staffer, according to Foreman.

Whether or not this depicts the future of American banking depends on you, the customer. It certainly has the potential.