First Data's Independent Sales Services group has recently announced several "services and tools specifically designed to give small and medium-sized businesses an advantage in today's competitive landscape."

MasterCard has announced that its interchange rates that apply to US merchants are now posted on its website, "along with the comprehensive information merchants need to understand the rates and how they apply."

Greg McBride reports on the results of Bankrate.com's latest Checking Account Pricing Study - finding that the "average bounced-check fee, often referred to as a nonsufficient-funds fee, or NSF fee, by your financial institution, is now at a record high of $27.40." The average ATM surcharge is now $1.64 and is assessed by 98.3 percent of banks owning ATMs. Bankrate estimates that Americans pay $4.2 billion per year in ATM fees. Here's a Bankrate.com press release summarizing many of the study's findings.

Mary Wisniewski, Business Reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times, takes a look at Netspend's All-Access National Savings Program, which has begun paying 3 percent on deposits, more than double the average rate currently paid by banks on consumer checking accounts.

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