If anything, the local banks and credit unions are worse. I go to Coast Central Credit Union here in Eureka, and they have the same, exact types of fees. I found this out when I was charged an NSF fee, even though my online statement showed that I had a positive balance. Apparently, they still hadn't credited me for an earlier deposit, even though the statement said that the funds were available.
In any event, I called them up and TRIED to opt-out of the "feature" that put charges through (whether I wanted them to or not) and then charge me a hefty fee. They said that CCCU doesn't allow you to have a checking account with them unless you have this "feature" with it.
Although Congress just passed a banking reform bill that forces banks to stop this sort of predatory practice, I'm not sure that credit unions fall under the same restrictions as banks do. So, the big banks like Chase might actually end-up being less of a rip-off than credit unions. For what is supposed to be a local, friendly, member-based credit union, Coast Central is no better than any other big-corporation bank when it comes to unwanted "features" and hefty fees.
One other little pet peeve... Their antiquated ATM machines (which are both in drive-thru lanes, making walking up to them kinda dangerous) are only emptied out once or twice a day, and you don't get any credit for deposits for a couple of days. On the other hand, Wells Fargo's ATMs actually scan deposited checks and cash, so you get credit right away on cash and can immediately advance up to $100 on deposited checks. They have both drive-thru and walk-up ATMs as well. Sometimes, the big banks are actually more user-friendly. Just depends on which one.