By Sabrina Karl

The results are in from Bankrate’s annual checking account and ATM fee study: What banks are charging customers for overdrafts, ATM transactions, and general account fees continues to climb steadily.

The cost to hold a non-interest-bearing checking account has risen from $1.77 ten years ago (the lowest average over the study’s 21-year span) to $5.61 this year. That’s up ever so slightly from last year, but a bit below the peak of $5.86, seen in 2015.

The average monthly fee for interest-bearing checking accounts is almost triple that, though, averaging $15.05 this year. Ten years ago, it sat at $12.55.

Overdraft fees are also approaching highs. The 2019 average is $33.36, which is a smidge higher than last year’s average and just below the two-decade record set in 2017. The average non-sufficient funds fee has increased 19 times over the study’s 21 years, rising more than 50 percent from $21.57 in 1998.

The cost to access ATMs also saw new high in 2019, continuing a trend of 15 consecutive records. For in-network ATMs, the average fee was $3.09 this year, rising 2 percent over 2018. A decade ago, the average was $2.22.

But the total out-of-network ATM fee is now approaching $5. After adding an average out-of-network surcharge of $1.63, the 2019 average total charge for using ATMs belonging to other banks is $4.72.

This is a record high for out-of-network ATM fees, with the average charge rising 18 times since 1998. Ten years ago, the average was $3.54, and over the study’s 21-year span, total ATM charges have averaged 4.25 percent annual growth.

In some good news from the study, the opportunities to avoid monthly fees and ATM charges have grown, with the share of free checking accounts reaching 42 percent, the highest proportion since 2011.