The more money you can afford to keep in a checking account, the fewer fees you pay. You also receive discounted rates on overdraft protection, auto loans, and home equity loans. With this account, you get 10 no-fee debit items per month but none of the discounts and frills of the other type of account. For consumers who cannot afford a checking account, getting a check cashed can be costly. Consumers who cannot afford the monthly fees or initial deposit for a checking account find themselves hit with fees each time they need to cash a pay check or government assistance check.
Some banks even charge a fee for people to consult with a teller.
Banks want to lower costs by encouraging customers to use an ATM machine for simple transactions. Since you must be literate to use an ATM machine, this trend further penalizes uneducated, often poor, consumers. Poor and minority consumers have difficulty obtaining not only checking services but also loans from major banks. Similarly, between 1985 and 1993, the Chevy Chase Federal Savings Bank gave only three percent of its loans to property owners in predominantly African-American neighborhoods. The agreement to locate branch banks in minority neighborhoods illustrates that geographic constraints have limited some consumers' access to traditional banking services.