The recent attempt by Bank of America to charge customers $60 a year to use their debit cards--the bank eventually backed off the plan--has increased anti-big-bank rage. Credit unions and community banks say they have picked up as many as 650,000 accounts in recent weeks. The megamergers that created B of A, Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase were supposed to lower costs for consumers. They didn't. In 2009 the average checking-account holder paid $327 annually in total fees, nearly triple what banks charged two decades ago. Most of the fees, like overdraft charges, are gotcha penalties. But recently banks have raised no-fee...
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