It's always a good idea to read mail from your bank.
These days, they're most likely notifying you of additional fees charged to your account. As the Wall Street Journal's Rachel Louise Ensign reports,
"Free banking has gone the way of the free in-flight meal."
Banks and regulators are in a cat and mouse game -- once a fee is outlawed or restricted, banks come up with alternative fees. You don't have to pay them all, but you may have to play games with your accounts.
Ensign explains some of the most common bank fees while describing how to avoid them. Some of the fees can be avoided with online banking: viewing accounts only online and getting paid electronically will help avoid monthly maintenance fees (and a few outrageous fees) on most checking accounts.