Regions Bank will become the first in our area to charges customers a monthly fee for using their debit cards. But regions won't be the last.

Beginning next month regions will begin charging all basic checking account customers a flat 4-dollar a month fee for debit card transactions. Suntrust, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and others are experimenting with similar charges in limited markets.

The banks claim they have to make up for money they lost when congress passed new legislation earlier this year. It allowed the Federal Reserve to reduce the amount banks can charge merchants for accepting debit and credit card transactions.

Mel Campbell of Regions Financial Corp. says Regions will offer other checking account programs that do not include debit card fees. "Consumers enjoy the convenience of using a debit card to make payments and we encourage our customers to talk with their banker about which account best fits their needs.”

Wednesday afternoon Regions Bank sent us this statement, saying it realizes consumers enjoy the convenience of debit cards and encourage customers to talk with their banker about which account fits their needs.