Answer: Your teller gave you your answer. Goodwill doesn’t count for much when banks are trying to maximize revenue.

And there’s certainly no law requiring the new owner to honor the old bank’s promises. The new owners can charge new fees, alter policies and change interest rates on savings accounts and certificates of deposit.

Checking account fees are making a big comeback lately. Banks are claiming these new fees are necessary because regulators restricted one of their big sources of income: bounce fees. Starting last summer, banks were required to get customers’ permission before signing them up for “courtesy overdraft” services that allowed the banks to charge $35 or so each for over-limit transactions. When finally given the choice, many of those customers declined to opt in to the expensive programs and bounce fee income plummeted.

So banks are experimenting with other fees, but you still have options. Often the fees are waived if you maintain a minimum account balance, for example. In your case, that might be tough, so you might want to consider moving your accounts to another bank or a credit union. Credit unions are member-owned financial institutions, and many still offer free checking or have lower fees for low-balance accounts. To see which credit unions you might join, visit http://www.findacreditunion.com.

Which is what JPMorgan Chase did in an interview with American Banker about its plans to impose new checking account fees.

“We don’t want to raise fees on our customers,” a spokesman for JPMorgan Chase said Wednesday, “but unfortunately regulation is forcing us to do it, and as a result some customers may end up unbanked.” He declined to discuss how many customers would be subject to a monthly fee as a result of the changes.

The background: banks’ fee income soared in recent years as the financial institutions quietly changed their policies on over-limit transactions, particularly those made with debit cards. Instead of declining a transaction if you didn’t have the money in your account, the banks started approving them so they could charge you $30 to $35 a pop. Many banks also reordered transactions before processing them to ensure the largest ones would go through first, draining the account more quickly so subsequent transactions could generate more fees.

Banks typically imposed these “bounce protection” or “courtesy overdraft” program without asking customers’ permission, and some banks wouldn’t allow you to turn them off.

Regulators finally stepped in, requiring banks to get customers’ permission to enroll them in bounce protection. To no one’s surprise, most customers declined.

But banks had gotten hooked on the easy money, and now they’re scrambling to find other ways to ding us to get that cash flow rolling again. The bank spokesman is repeated the industry mantra that the devil (regulators) are making them do it, and that poor people will suffer.

Low-income people bore the brunt of the bounce protection programs, since their accounts were more likely to be running on fumes. That’s why many have sworn off banks. Some 9 million households in the U.S. are unbanked, including nearly 20% of those making $30,000 or less.

But FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair is convinced banks can find a way to profitably offer low-cost checking accounts by making most transactions electronic. On Jan. 1 the FDIC launched a pilot program at nine banks to test the such accounts’ feasibility.

In any case, banks have plenty of other options beyond raising their prices. They can run themselves more efficiently, build more relationships with the customers, and (heaven forbid) maybe even trim those year-end bonuses a tad.

To protect yourself from this latest round of fees, you should:

• Closely monitor your account and any communications from your bank. Many banks large and small are planning to impose monthly fees on once-free accounts.
• See if you can (or want to) change your banking behavior to avoid the fees. If you have a spare $5,000 lying around, for example, you can avoid the new fees on some accounts at Bank of America by sticking that money in a savings account linked to your checking. Your interest rate will be dismal, but rates at online banks aren’t much better, so that money may be better off sitting at BofA and helping you avoid the $15 monthly maintenance fee for your checking account (which would be like getting a 3%+ return on your money).
• If you can’t or don’t want to meet the criteria necessary to waive fees, ditch your bank. Many credit unions still offer free checking. You can find which ones you might be able to join here.

The change should save customers a whole lot of money if they don’t sign up, since over-limit transactions using debit cards will simply be declined rather than generate $35-a-pop fees.

But there are still plenty of other ways your bank can gouge you. You probably know about foreign ATM fees, monthly maintenance fees and even fees to talk to a teller. But you may not know about:

Other types of overdrafts. The change requiring an opt-in for bounce protection applies only to debit card and ATM transactions. It doesn’t apply to overlimit checks or automatic payment for recurring bills, which the bank can still process and assess you with a bounce fee. So you still have to pay attention to your balance, and I’d recommend signing up for true overdraft protection, which links your checking account to a savings account, line of credit or credit card. However, you should beward:

Credit card overdraft. Linking to your savings account or a line of credit will typically be much cheaper than having your true overdraft protection linked to a credit card. That’s because overdrafts typically will be treated as a cash advance, triggering fees of 3% to 5% plus sky-high interest rates that kick in immediately with no grace period. Credit card overdraft likely still will be cheaper than bounce protection, but you’d be wise to choose one of the other two options, if available.

Excess activity fees. If you make too many withdrawals or transfers from your savings account, your bank can slap you with a fee. Banks will say this is because of federal Regulation D, which limits such transactions in savings accounts, but the reality is that banks have an option: they can charge fees, or simply refuse to honor the excess transactions. Guess which option many banks choose? Oh, and some banks have their own definition of what constitutes an “excess.” Regulation D says the limit is 6 transactions, but Bank of America starts charging you after 3 if you have less than $2,500 in your account. Know your bank’s limits and make sure you stay within them.

Overdraft fees in “closed” accounts. A bank can honor outstanding checks and recurring payments, generating bounce fees, even if you’ve closed the account and taken your money elsewhere. If you’re switching banks, follow these rules for a bounce-free transition.

Returned deposit fees. You get a check, deposit it and see the amount reflected in your balance. You start spending the money, only to get a notice from your bank that the check wasn’t good. Not only are you out the money, but you’ll likely have to pay a fee on top of that, plus deal with any overdrafts the bad check caused. It’s hard to avoid getting stiffed this way, but you might want to avoid spending any deposited money for at least a week. If you get assessed a returned deposit fee, you can add that to the amount the check writer owes you.

In today’s post, I’ll cover how to shop for a new bank or credit union. In this post (click HERE), I write about ways to make the switch as painless as possible.

The best fit for you will depend on how you use banking services and your priorities.

Start by looking at your transactions for the last three months or so. What was the lowest balance in your checking and savings accounts over that time? If you constantly run on fumes or close to it, you’ll want accounts with low minimum balance requirements or that waive minimums when you arrange direct deposit of your paycheck. (My credit union requires a $1 minimum for its basic checking account. Big banks may require a $500 to $1,000 minimum balance to avoid a fee unless you have direct deposit.)

Cast a wide net. Don’t limit your search to name-brand banks. Community banks and credit unions can be good options as well. Move Your Money can help you find top-rated community banks by ZIP code, while Find a Credit Union and CULookup offer similar services for CUs. Community banks are covered by the FDIC insurance that applies to bigger banks, and most credit unions are covered by the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund, which like the FDIC is backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government.

Check your target institution’s Web site for the closest branches and ATMs. You can always get extra cash at a grocery store with a debit card, but most people like to have a fee-free ATM and a branch or two close to where they live or work. Credit unions usually belong to the Co-Op Network, giving you access to more than 28,000 fee-free ATMs across the country.

Also check interest rates for checking and savings account. Getting any interest on your checking at big banks typically requires a huge balance ($10,000 and up), but some community banks offer decent rates on so-called rewards checking accounts. Get all the details before you sign up, since a certain number of transactions and a minimum balance are typically required.

Savings account rates vary as well. My big-bank savings account offers a fraction of 1%, while my credit union currently offers a 7% return on the first $500 deposited.

Test their customer service. Don’t just check them out on the Web. Call and talk to a human to ask questions, so you can see how you’re treated. Then, before you commit, visit a branch and ask some of the same questions again in person. What an institution promises and what it actually delivers in customer service can be worlds apart, and there’s nothing like face-to-face contact to help you decide.

What to ask (and make sure to write down the answers so you can compare your options):

• What are the minimum balance requirements (if any) for each account? What monthly fee will I pay if my account goes below the minimum or if there is no fee-free minimum?
• Do you reimburse for transactions made at other banks’ ATMs? If so, how many fee-free transactions can I make each month?
• Do you charge to talk to a teller? If so, how much?
• Do you offer online bill pay for free? Is there a limit on the number of bills I can pay?
• Do you charge for paper statements? If so, how much?
• What do you charge for transfers to outside accounts?
• Do you offer overdraft protection? How much does it cost? (What you want is true overdraft, which links your checking account to a savings account, line of credit or credit card in case a transaction exceeds your available balance. Don’t settle for “courtesy overdraft” or “bounce protection,” which can cost you a fortune in bounced-transaction fees.)
• If you use Quicken, QuickBooks or other personal finance software, ask about fees for those services.
• If you frequently send money out of the country, find out how much is charged for that service.

Next up: How to say goodbye.