Bailout, Mergers May Lead to Bank Fee Hikes

You can find more stories like this in our On the Brink series.

If the government succeeds in its renewed efforts to shore up the U.S. financial sector with hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars, it may spur a "double whammy" in costs to the consumer -- higher taxes and higher bank fees.

President Bush and congressional leaders renewed their push for the $700 billion financial bailout bill, which would allow the federal government to purchase troubled assets clogging bank balance sheets and credit markets. Proponents argue that the plan may actually reap a profit, if the Treasury sells assets back to the market at higher prices than it pays. But in the short term, taxpayers are footing the bill. ...