It's no secret that banks have a lot of revenue to make up; overdraft fee (overdraft fee news) revenue has no place to go but down. You've got to make up that revenue somehow, and more banks are opting for explicit card fees, which is understandable. Citigroup (NYSE: C), for example, has imposed a $60 annual fee on some cards that previously had no annual fee. According to the LA Times.

Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) initiated an annual fee of as much as $99 on some cardholders last month. But it also announced a move to get rid of overdraft fees on debit cards. Which generated some decent press. JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) "say they have no plans to introduce such fees, but it's probably just a matter of time," the LA Times says.

This is a significant revenue issue for banks. The regulatory war on fees will impose some big costs. JPMorgan Chase, the nation's largest issuer, has said it will lose up to $750 million this year. Citigroup pegged its losses at somewhere between $400 million and $600 million. The industry as whole could lose up to $50 billion. They've got to do something, either add services or hike fees, or both. It would be nice to see some fee-based innovative services added to the mix.

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