debit card changes

2011 was the year of the remake in Hollywod. It also seems to be the year of the remake of the debit card. In June of last year the Federal Reserve established new standards for debit card interchange fees. The fee is now twenty one cents and goes up a few cents for other factors such as fraud prevention measures. If it is necesarry, this nominal figure seems fair to me. The average debit card purchase is thirty eight dollars. Then just add another quarter onto that. Prior to this new ruling fees were capped at 44 cents. In response to this larger banks have started charging a monthly fee for using debit cards. My bank now charges me three dollars a month. Some banks are charging as much as five dollars a month to make up for revenue lost per swipe. Is everyone paying these debit card fees? Are bank customers at credit unions and community banks paying this also? This could effect my decision to change banks at some point. Approximately one year ago my debit card account was comprimised. You can read about it in an earlier post. I did what my bank sugggested and opened a second checking account with a second debit card. Eventually it became an inconvenience to carry two cards, remember two PIN numbers and simply manage what amounted to 4 accounts in all. I luckily now only have one savings and one checking account or my debit card fees might be seventy two dollars per year instead of only thirty six if i'm doing my math correctly. I realize there is a cost  for the hardware, software, electricity and work involved in monitoring and executing electronic transactions. Seriously, are all the fees being charged really valid? How much might we eventually be charged to spend our own money. Banks are already using our money to make loans and investments. Some days we should get twenty five cents added to our accounts per debit card swipe because the bank had a good day and we are helping out the economy. That might be too much of a happy ending.