Here are important things that you should know.. excerpt from MSN.com

1. “Our branches are there to sell you, not serve you.”

In the late 1990s, bank branches were considered outmoded relics soon to be replaced by ATMs and Internet banking. But just the opposite happened. In 1998, there were 89,000 bank branches in the U.S., and by 2007, there were 97,000.

Why? The industry realized that consumer banking is profitable and that despite the predictions of Silicon Valley wonks, the main criterion consumers use in choosing a bank is proximity, SNL Financial analyst Jennifer Payne says.

But branches aren’t just about convenience; they’re a bank’s primary sales floor. Brochures for services as varied as retirement accounts and home loans are on display, and everyone from the teller on up is trained to make a sale. That’s because in the current low-interest-rate climate, it’s harder to generate revenue from interest alone.

Many players in the industry have been trying to boost fee- and service-based income, so if a teller sees you have a mortgage, he might suggest you meet with a loan officer to discuss a home-equity loan. Greg McBride, a senior financial analyst at Bankrate.com, says, “The more products a customer has with a bank, the more likely he is to stay with that bank.”

2. “Our fees will only go up.”

With the economy in a slump and big losses crippling in the mortgage market, banks are looking for reliable revenue streams. Hence punitive fees — for overdrawing your account, say, or using a competitor’s ATM — are increasing. The average ATM service charge doubled between 1998 and 2007, and overdraft fees brought in $17.5 billion in revenue in 2006, up from $10.3 billion in 2004, according to the Center for Responsible Lending.

Rubecca Hegarty, a married mother of three in Woodridge, Ill., says she often pays upward of $100 a month in overdraft fees to JPMorgan Chase because, like most banks, it changes the order of purchases so that large debts get paid first, increasing the likelihood that customers will incur fees on smaller purchases. Chase says it does this because big payments like a mortgage are more important to consumers and so get priority.

Revenue from penalties can be addictive for banks, Harvard Business School professor Gail McGovern says, but “they’re going to face problems from angry customers, which leads to big call-center bills, employee dissatisfaction and turnover.”

Indeed, that anger has reached the ear of federal lawmakers. Starting in July 2010, sweeping consumer protections will rein in many of the banking industry’s most controversial practices.

more informatio: http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Banking/BetterBanking/10ThingsYourBankWontTellYou.aspx?gt1=33010