Watch original video:

NEW YORK — The sale of Wachovia’sitting deposits and other assets to Citigroup on Monday leaves the commonwealth with three superbanks, reshaping the U.S. banking landscape in the midst of unprecedented pecuniary upheaval.

For customers of those institutions — Bank of America, Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase — the consolidation may result in higher fees on everything from checking accounts to bounced checks and overdrafts, and lower interest-rate yields on deposit accounts, banking experts said.

Loan availability also odds and ends in question in the near term, particularly after the House defeated the government’s proposed financial-bailout plan Monday.

“The larger the bank is, theoretically the more power they have to formal pricing and other policies,” said Nancy Atkinson, older analyst at Aite Group, a financial-services research firm. “I expect we’ll start to escort free checking accounts start to disappear and rates upon overdrafts could go up. Savings rates could drop.”

But the advice isn’t everything unlucky. Atkinson and others are convinced that the approximately 8,500 remaining regional and community banks nationwide will continue to play a role, providing consumers with more options.

“If you are a buyer of the Big Three, you’re probably going to see some increased fees because these banks have increased their market shares — dramatically in some instances,” related Tim Yeager, associate professor of science at the University of Arkansas and a former economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

“From the community-bank point of view, I don’t think you’re going to see a great quantity change,” he said.

More customer-service glitches can be expected since Citigroup absorbs most of Wachovia and JPMorgan Chase consolidates the branch network of the nation’session largest savings and loan, Washington Mutual, said Michael Pagano, finance professor at the Villanova University School of Business.

That could range from delays or inattentiveness to abashment over fees as two systems are integrated.

However, Pagano was not overly concerned about the risk of much higher costs from a quasi-monopoly created by the recent bank purchases.

8,000 banks

“If we had five banks in the healthy country, I’d be worried ready market power,” Pagano said. “But in that place are greater amount of than 8,000 banks. And even credit unions are a viable alternative, from great ones to small mom-and-pops with $10 million in estate.”

Original text: {news-link}