Bank fees increase

Moebs Services is saying its research shows the median price of bank overdraft fees nationwide on business accounts increased from $25 in 2008 to $28 in 2009.

Lake Bluff, Ill.-based Moebs surveyed more than 2,000 banks and credit unions to prepare the survey.

Moebs said the fee increase was led by Wall Street banks, those with more than $500 billion in assets, which charged $35 per overdraft. Among the institutions surveyed, 94.3% of banks and 27.8% of credit unions offer business checking and 40.9% of financial institutions offer a “free” business account.

“This is up from last year for all institutions, as large banks try to protect loss of business, especially small business, and community banks and credit unions try to take as much market share as they can get,” Mike Moebs, CEO of Moebs Services said in a statement.

OTHER FINDINGS
• Large banks almost doubled the minimum balance to avoid a from $1,250 in 2008 to $2,250 in 2009. Community banks and credit unions stayed the same at $1,000 and $500 respectively. “Main Street institutions definitely offer a better pricing deal than the big Wall Street banks. In these hard economic times, businesses should seek the better deal,” Moebs noted.

• However, Wall Street banks substantially increased the use of account analysis in the past year, which is useful for businesses of all types. The survey found that 92% of Wall Street banks offer account analysis while only 66.3% of community banks and credit unions do.

• There are more than 27 million businesses in the U.S., with only 10,000 listed on Wall Street and the exchanges.

• Small business produces 65% of all U.S. jobs.

• Financial institutions charged businesses about $9 billion in service charges on deposits in 2008.