Paying someone else to take your money may seem like a ludicrous idea on paper, but it seems to be the way the UK's banking industry is heading.

According to the Consumer Action Group, as regulatory authorities clamp down on the bank charges which have been, fairly or unfairly, levied on consumers over the years these firms will have to find other means to make up the revenue.

What this means is that the penalty charges that bankers were hit with when they stepped ten pence over their overdraft limit were actually keeping them safe from paying for their bank accounts.

Alternatively, credit companies will simply find different charges to levy on the consumer to make sure that it is us that is out of pocket and not them.

Marc Gander, founder of the Consumer Action Group, said: "If you look at the way the credit card companies reacted, they've started bringing in all sorts of stealth charges to compensate for the loss of about half of their charges' value.

"The general estimate is that with these new charges they're now making more than they did before."

He added that the new charges will be "borne more equally throughout the population" and warned against ever "expecting something for free".

Last month, a UK judge ruled that the Office of Fair Trading can now decide which of the many charges that banks levy on their customers are fair.

The move came after a slew of consumers entered into a bitter battle with many top-name high street banks to reclaim what they had paid in these fees, after it emerged they had not been legally obliged to honour them.

BBC News reports that one consumer, Paul Tilley, managed to recover £4,000 in charges that his bank had levied on him after it let him exceed his overdraft limit.

He told the news provider: "Looking at my statements from the time, they were taking up to £180 a month off me in charges, it then left me short for paying my bills.

"As a result my payments bounced, I then went over my overdraft again. It was a snowballing situation."

However, the banks still have until May 22nd to appeal this decision and if they are defeated then experts predict they will bite back by abandoning the practice of "free banking".

Just this week the Royal Bank of Scotland has announced that it is axing free banking for thousands of its business account holders.

The decision, which is as much a reaction to the credit crunch as anything else, means that as of June 2nd it will only be offering free banking to start-up business customers.

Some banks are already way ahead of the game on this matter. First Direct for example is offering potential bankers £100 if they switch from another bank to it.

However, what isn't advertised on its posters is that First Direct levies a monthly charge on many of its current accounts.

Ironically, it is the high earners who pay the most into their accounts and make the bank the greatest amount of money who have been hit hardest by this.

Those who deposit less than £1,500 per month into their accounts or maintain an average balance below £1,500 will escape the fee.