From Bloomberg: Myth of ‘Free’ Checking Costs
Consumers Over $8 Billion a Year. For people who can least afford it, that myth is a harsh reality. “Many Americans enjoy free checking accounts on the backs of the fees paid by poor people. Customers who pay overdraft fees again and again—who typically have no more than a few hundred dollars in the bank—are responsible for over half the profits from mass-market consumer checking accounts at the biggest US lenders.”