NEW YORK (By Jeanne Sahadi, CNNMoney.com) January 26, 2007 — If you saw this line on your online banking statement -- "Service fee: $3 (more info)" -- What would expect to see when you clicked on the hyperlinked words "more info”?

More information, I would suspect. But that’s not what you would get.

At Wachovia Bank, clicking on those words doesn't shed any light on the fee. The window that pops up reads merely "Service Fee. Quantity: 1. Total $3."

The other day, colleague Andy Gallagher showed me his fee-laden Wachovia checking account statement, his blood boiling from unintelligible fees. But it was the "more info" thing that really stuck in his craw. You can see why by looking at the graphic below.

"What's this for? I have no idea," he said, pointing to the $3 fee on the screen. Seeing the swelling veins in his neck, I set out to find "more info."

Bank fees are a powerful source of revenue for America's financial institutions, and one of consumers’ top headaches. If it feels like the bank fee noose has closed tighter around your neck in recent years, it has. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. says the nation’s largest banks now generate 44 percent of their revenues from fees. Estimates of how much that amounts to vary between $30 billion and $50 billion a year, but it's clear banks are rolling in money they take from customers, often without explaining themselves very well.

How do banks make all this money? Let me count the ways. A $20 withdrawal from the wrong ATM costs an average of $4 in withdrawal fees. An attempt to withdraw $500 from the wrong ATM can result in a rejection and a $1.50 ATM withdrawal fee. Getting close to an empty account? Don't worry, your bank will automatically provide you with overdraft protection, for $31 an occurrence. BusinessWeek recently told the story of a college student who used a cash card linked to any empty account to purchase seven Christmas gifts for a total of $230, then was hit by $217 in overdraft fees.

Then, there are crazy credit card fees, like the over-limit fee. If you spent a lot on plastic during the holidays and are near your limit, beware: Banks can lower your credit limit, citing a credit risk, and then charge you an over-limit fee.

What the #%$& is this fee for?

Gallagher's fee was much simpler than that. No complicated math involved. Just a $3 fee. But Andy had the same question so many other American consumers find themselves asking every day: What the #%$& is this fee for? The Wachovia Web site provided no answer. Despite its lofty promise, there was no "more info."

But Jim Baum, a Wachovia spokesman, did find "more info" for me. The service fee represents a recurring fee Andy is charged every month for the type of account he has, called a "simplified checking account." Baum recommended that Andy upgrade to another, free account. I said that wasn't the point.

"Why isn't there ‘more info’ where the site promises ‘more info?’” I asked.

Baum had to do more research to answer that. And he did.

The service fee, in this case, really means "regular monthly fee." It turns out some Wachovia account holders are charged multiple monthly recurring fees each month on the same day. When that happens, Wachovia lumps them all together on the same line item on the Web site. Were there one $3 fee and one $4 fee, for example, the statement would show: "Service fee: $7."

The “more info” feature would then list each fee separately, Baum explained. So it might read: "Service fee. Quantity: 1. $3./Service fee. Quantity: 1. $4. Total: $7."

The logic was clear now. But I remained skeptical of the "more info" boast. So I pressed on. I asked Baum why the pop-up box doesn't say something obvious like, "Recurring monthly fee charged to simplified checking account holders?" It could even include a link that said, "Want to get rid of this fee? Here's how."

He told me to make that recommendation to Wachovia's online customer service division, which I did.

David Stone, the bank's director of online customer service, explained that the “more info” system, which was put in place a year ago, was popular with consumers in usability testing. Many had complained about the site’s former policy of bundling a series of fees into one line on the statement. But he conceded the link doesn’t work well when it only lists one fee. He said the firm might reconsider the "more info" link presentation if more customers complain.

Something is wrong

In the meantime, another Wachovia spokesman, Matt Wadley, pointed out, correctly, that the bank does have a 24-hour hot line customers can call with questions like mine. Gallagher could have called and gotten the same explanation I did, he said.

Wadley also said that statements mailed to consumers the old-fashioned way would provide more details on that $3 monthly service fee. I wasn't able to verify that. Wachovia also told me that Gallagher had been paying that fee for years, dating back to even before Wachovia acquired his account when it purchased CoreState Bank eight years ago. Perhaps he should have remembered what this $3 fee was for.

Those are reasonable points, but I do know this: Any time a bank takes money from your account, it should tell you why as clearly as possible. And any time clicking on a link that says "more info" only brings up another box with the same info you already had, something is wrong.