Three lawsuits have now been filed against big banks and credit card network operators, alleging price fixing when it comes to charging ATM fees for debit cards.

The latest suit, filed Friday, targets Bank of America, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase as well as Visa and MasterCard. The complaint says these entities artificially inflate the price of ATM transactions via rules promulgated by the dominant card networks, which essentially prevent alternative networks--such as STAR and Shazam--from charging lower fees. The card companies say these rules were enacted in fact to prevent any sort of discriminatory pricing.

These suits come at a good time for the plaintiffs, in that they play to the anti-bank fervor that has set in across the nation and in Washington. Some Congressmen raised the issue during hearings in Washington, forcing Wells Fargo CEO to deny the charges on CNBC. Politicians have also called for the Justice Department to take a look at recent fee hikes, in particular the debit card fee hikes that we've since the Durbin Amendment took effect.

Certainly, the issue of fees has heated up as a populist issue. Banks will have to be careful about how fees are perceived. This is a politically fraught issue right now.

For more:
- here's the CNBC article 
- here's a Washington Post article

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