It's always a good idea to read mail from your bank.

These days, they're most likely notifying you of additional fees charged to your account.  As the Wall Street Journal's Rachel Louise Ensign reports,

"Free banking has gone the way of the free in-flight meal."

Banks and regulators are in a cat and mouse game -- once a fee is outlawed or restricted, banks come up with alternative fees.  You don't have to pay them all, but you may have to play games with your accounts.

Ensign explains some of the most common bank fees while describing how to avoid them.  Some of the fees can be avoided with online banking:  viewing accounts only online and getting paid electronically will help avoid monthly maintenance fees (and a few outrageous fees) on most checking accounts.

Is a credit card safer than a debit card?  In some cases there's very little difference.  However, credit cards have advantages often that make them a better choice than debit cards for everyday use.

When somebody steals your debit card number, they have direct access to your checking account.  That's the account you use to pay bills, and it's important to protect the account.  If you can't make mortgage or insurance payments, other problems can follow.  Even if your account is protected against fraud, it can take a while for the bank to clear things up and return funds to your account.

When a credit card is used fraudulently, it doesn't instantly drain your checking account.  Credit cards also have more consumer protection.  MarketWatch's Andrea Coombes reports that about 44% of banks offer zero liability protection on debit cards, while all credit cards enjoy some protection.

For more information, and ideas on how to use your debit card safely, see Coombes brief video on how credit cards can be safer.

Further reading:

• Debit vs Credit Cards in Everyday Life

Can you deposit checks by sending an image of the check to your bank -- instead of sending the paper document?  You can if your bank offers remote deposit.

More and more consumers are able to deposit checks virtually using smartphone cameras and scanners connected to computers.  Going forward, it looks like banks that add remote deposit will skip scanners altogether and only offer applications that run on select phones (limiting the service to only the most tech-savvy early adopters).

BAI Banking Strategies summarizes the current landscape of remote check deposit for consumers, with information on which banks offer the service and what to expect going forward.  If you can use remote deposit, it's a great way to get checks deposited quickly and easily. [via The Financial Brand]

Further reading:

• How Remote Deposit Capture Works

What do you do when you get a check from another country?

FiveCentNickel.com shares the story of a successful and easy foreign check deposit.  Nickel was able to deposit a check from the UK without doing anything special -- a teller at Bank of America took care of everything, funds were available immediately, and there was no "fee" for the transaction.

Of course, the devil is in the details.  While there may not be a fee for depositing a foreign check, you may take a haircut on the currency conversion.  Most banks will not rip you off here, but it's worth knowing that you lose something in the conversion and it's effectively a fee.

In addition, funds may be available immediately, but be prepared for them to dry up if the check bounces.  With foreign checks in particular, it can take a while -- weeks or months -- to be certain that the check is good.  Even if you can spend the money right away, ask your bank when you can safely assume that the check has cleared.

Further reading:

• Clearing Checks - Risks