Ah.  I see where you are going.  For a second I thought perhaps you were defending the practice as necessary :)<p>The average consumer is shockingly disorganized with their personal finances.  Sites like Mint are a tremendous step in the right direction.  Online banks are also emerging as "consumer-friendly" competition.  For example, Schwab has one of the best deals out there right now -- free, interest-bearing checking, no overdraft fees, unlimited ATM surcharge rebates.<p>I think consumers want to understand but are overwhelmed.  Perhaps an approach lies in expanding the 3rd party services market to continue to provide helpful tools to consumers.