Survey: Customers fear bank fees more than crooks

Just in time for Halloween, an upcoming survey by the Gartner consulting group finds "many consumers are more worried about banks raiding their accounts than criminals," writes MSNBC blogger Bob Sullivan yesterday.

The research finds "consumers are five times more likely to switch banks because of hidden fees than security concerns." Sullivan quotes Garner researcher Avivah Litan:

"...Banks make the biggest deal about security and how they protect your accounts and spend a lot of money advertising that ... but what people really care about is fees.

Also surprising: the customer churn these fees generate. "When you have one in five customers leaving a bank because of excessive fees, that's a huge customer service cost. They must be making a lot of money from excessive fees."

Among Sullivan's "Red Tape Tips": Investigate a credit union near you.

Read Sullivan's complete MSNBC "The Red Tape Chronicles" blog post here.