These days it seems that banks will charge for anything, even talking to a teller. Here are a few ways to save on fees.

In recent years, bank customers have found themselves subject to fees for all kinds of things that used to be part of the standard bank services: using the teller, using the ATM, calling an inquiry line, keeping a low balance, making more than ten transactions in a month. The capper was when a Chicago bank started charging $3 for the privilege of standing in line to see a teller.

Outraged customers threatened to take their money elsewhere. What many of them didn't realize is that the banks were more than happy to bid them farewell -- especially if they weren't leaving with too much cash.

This phenomenon was nothing new, but the burden of poorer customers had always been offset by the profit on wealthier customers' deposits. It took on new significance in the 1980s, lean times for banks. Many banks and savings and loans had made a lot of bad loans and were hemorrhaging money. At the same time, alternate investment opportunities, such as money market accounts and mutual funds, grew in popularity. Those banks that didn't go belly up lost many of their wealthy customers.

Rather than adopt creative ways to win back the wealthy customers, banks looked for ways to quickly rid themselves of the poorer ones. They started with fees that hit poorer customers hardest. The first targets were credit card customers, hit by late payment fees and over-the-limit fees. Next came fees for using non-network ATMs or bouncing a check, and the list is still growing.