Wells Fargo will start charging $7 per month for checking accounts in six more states, according to several reports.
The step is an expansion of the bank’s efforts to do away with free checking accounts.
The fee is expected to take effect in May and be reflected in bank statements by June.
According to a CNNMoney report, New York and Georgia have been identified as two of the six states to incur the fee, but the bank has not issued a statement indicating which states would be affected.
Wells Fargo has branches in 39 states and Washington D.C.
The $7 monthly fee will be assessed on the bank’s Essential Checking account holders, CNNMoney reported. According to several reports, customers can waive the fee by maintaining a $1,500 minimum daily balance or making direct deposits of $500 or more each month.
The bank is also offering a $2 discount on the fee for customers who choose to receive only online statements.
Wells Fargo stopped offering free checking accounts to new customers in 2010, but existing customers were able to hold onto their free accounts. Last year, the bank started moving those customers to the same $7-a-month accounts.
CHARLOTTE, N.C.,None — The reports are already hitting the Wells Fargo Facebook page, where customers are bombarding the bank's wall with comments and questions about the fee roll-out.
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