Lately, regulatory changes have been running rampant throughout the financial world. Banks have developed imaginative ways over the years to introduce fees and charges that are unfair to the consumer, and now they're paying the price.

New rules have eliminated financial institutions from charging "courtesy pay" overdraft fees unless their customers specifically opt-in to the program, eliminating a very large source of income (the USA Today article quotes earnings of nearly $39 billion from these programs. As a response, many banks are once again turning to monthly fees for checking accounts.

So what's the solution? Sandra Block at USA Today's first suggestion: join a credit union! Of course we can't argue with her suggestion. Ashland CU's checking account has absolutely no monthly fees, and we would never enroll our members into a costly fee program without their consent like the banks have done.

Of course, we are kind of biased. If you want to hear it from the experts themselves, just click the link below to read the USA Today article.