If you’re looking for more ideas for saving money in 2012, there’s some bad news. The once-prevalent free checking account is quickly fading away. More banks are charging monthly service fees on checking accounts, waiving them only for certain banking customers. “Fees have been going…

If you’re looking for more ideas for saving money in 2012, there’s some bad news. The once-prevalent free checking account is quickly fading away. More banks are charging monthly service fees on checking accounts, waiving them only for certain banking customers.

“Fees have been going up for years, but the recent twist we’ve seen is a significant decline in the availability of free checking accounts,” says Greg McBride, senior financial analyst with Bankrate.com. “The good news for consumers is that free checking is still available if you’re willing to shop around. Many of the fees that are being instituted can be avoided.”

Just 45 percent of non-interest checking accounts are now free, down from the peak of 76 percent two years ago, according to Bankrate’s 2011 Checking Account Survey, conducted in August.

Increasingly, banks are charging service fees if customers don’t maintain a significant monthly balance. For instance, some banks charge a monthly fee if a non-interest checking account falls below a set minimum daily balance. For interest-bearing accounts, those fees and minimums can rise precipitously.

“With recent regulatory changes that have squeezed banks, the free checking account has become a casualty,” McBride says. The Federal...