BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) - Wells Fargo is the latest bank to implement a new fee for debit card use. In a statement released earlier this week the bank says:

"Similar to other financial institutions, wells Fargo plans to test a debit card activity fee of $3 a month when a customer makes a purchase or payment (including recurring payment) with his or her personal or business debit card, check card or atm card linked to their wells Fargo business or personal checking account opened in Oregon, new Mexico, Nevada, Georgia and Washington starting October 2011."

A spokesperson from Wells Fargo says it's too early to tell if Alabama customers will eventually be effected.

The banks call the monthly debit card fee a test. but the general thinking is, all customers will end up paying it at some point and the fee won't be going away anytime soon and with that some customers are going elsewhere.

Stanton Davis, Vice President of Alabama Telco Credit Unions says, “We definitely are seeing sort of an influx of new customers coming over recently a couple of banks have changed some of their fee structures and so with that obviously that's going to be a surprise to the consumer. They're not ready to adjust to those fees their used to getting a fee checking account so with us still having a checking account we've actually seen a lot of applications come in."

Many financial experts say now is as good at time as any to make sure you are knowledgeable about the processes of your bank.

Robert Straka, President of Grandview Financial Group says, “well one of the things you have to look at is that a lot of accounts have different fees to them and they charge different fees to different accounts and so it’s really difficult to see what you're paying sometimes for some of the benefits supposedly you're getting."

One way to find the bank that bests suits you: go online and check sites like bankrate.com. And remember, even though a few large banks are turning to charging you every time you swipe your card, there are many more that do not.
You just have to shop around.