Free checking in US anymore?

I've got one with Bank of America that's free.

I just noticed that BofA is charging me $3 to include photocopies of checks cleared (with the statement). It would have been nice if they'd given me the option to opt out of that.

Bank of America and capital one for me.

I just noticed that BofA is charging me $3 to include photocopies of checks cleared (with the statement). It would have been nice if they'd given me the option to opt out of that.

You can, but you may need to change the type of account you have. I have an "echecking" account or something as it comes with no fees at all (and no minimum balance).  When I set it up, I had to opt out of the checks cleared on the statement and paper statements at all.  It was easy to set up, but they only offered it to me when I went in to close my account the last time I was in the US. Annoying.

I use ING Direct.

For foreign transfers, I just route through Paypal. It's usually really cheap if you use a direct debit rather than a credit/debit card.

I use ING Direct too. There were some mishaps in the beginning that were sorted through easily. Since no complaints.

ING Direct USA was sold last year to Capital One (ING Direct UK was sold to Barclays; ING Direct Canada was sold to Scotiabank). This brand is fast going to disappear.

I have a checking account with Wells Fargo (formerly Wachovia) and don't get charged a fee.  I have a little over $1000 in it, but am pretty sure there's no minimum.  If they started charging me I'd switch accounts as I almost never put any money into the account (just the odd birthday check from my parents).

Correction--you've got to have a minimum of $1500 in your Wells Fargo account for it to be free.  I think it used to be $1000 and found out that when my account dipped down to below that, that I was getting charged $7.00 per month.

I bank with a smaller ( only four branches) bank. We kept the account open with very little in it while we were in the UK. It was easier to leave it open and my family deposit money for gifts, instead of paying extortionate prices for shipping Christmas and birthday gifts over. Because a lot of my family bank there, they allowed us to put mom's address on the account as our address, even though they knew we were out of the country, by adding mom's name to the account as a check writer only. This allowed them to have a place to send our statements, and also gave us someone here that could access the account if necessary.

They have a policy that if the account sits dormant for over a year, there will be a $5 monthly fee, but because we still used it from time to time, as a 'nearly free' money transfer (free for them to put money in, a small fee for us to use the card in a cash machine in the UK), we were never charged the fee. Otherwise, there is no fee for the account.

I haven't read all the comments on here but its my experience that almost no banks charge for a checking accounts.
I have two checking accounts that don't charge. DW has a B of A account that doesn't charge.
I don't doubt that some of you can only find checking accounts that charge a monthly fee. Its a big country out there.

I find that USAA is one of the better banks to have state side. That is as long as you qualify. Checking is free and I can transfer between checking and savings with no trouble. I use the cards when I come back to the states with no trouble.
It is pricey to get money sent back to the UK, but you lose your butt on the transfer rates anyhow.