Free checking accounts rise; some bank fees drop in second half of 2011.

• Position: MARKETING NEWS - Brief article

DON'T BELIEVE THE STORY THAT FREE CHECKING IS DEAD. Free checking actually made a comeback in the second half of 2011, according to MoneyRates.com. Averages for several checking account fees and minimum balance requirements also dropped, suggesting that banks are responding to a consumer backlash.

The share of checking accounts in the MoneyRatcs.com national survey charging no monthly maintenance fee jumped to 39 percent, a rise of more than 4 percentage points over the mid-2011 figures. In that survey, only 35 percent of the accounts surveyed carried no monthly maintenance fee.

Of the accounts that still carried a monthly fee...