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While living in Poland each year my bank would take £50 from me. I was never overdrawn and did not sign up to any bonus insurance premium account. The bank just took the cash for letting me having the account.

I was incensed – back home in Blighty such charges would be deemed quite ungentlemanly. But now British banks may be trying to squeeze further cash out of account holders and start charging them for the privilege of running a current account.

On the face of it this seems completely against the point of a bank. You invest cash in the bank and they pay you interest. If you want to borrow money they charge you more interest than they pay investors and so they make a profit. Quite a simple business model! Of course, with a few exceptions, if you want instant access to your cash - that is have a current account – then you except there will not be much interest.

However, new research from Defaqto predicts that the end of free banking could well be nigh - and sooner than you might think.

David Black, Head of Banking at Defaqto, said: "I will be very surprised if free banking is universally available in two years time. Exceptions such as basic bank accounts for the less well-off will remain but the range of services on those accounts - they don't for instance offer overdrafts - will not be suitable for most customers.

"The first major provider to introduce charges for all customers is going to take a lot of flak but it is likely that the majority of the main providers will then follow the lead. I would then expect to see a significant increase in account switching as well as many people closing their secondary accounts."

The report predicts that customers will either have to pay a monthly fee for a current account or face 'pay as you go' charges based on how much the account is used and for what it is used. Under the 'pay as you go' scheme, customers who opt for electronic transactions could pay less than those who choose cheques. This of course would penalise the worse off - as those unable to go online to pay bills are generally the old and disadvantaged.

Bank customers are already being warned to keep an eye on their accounts as banks have already started to switch accounts. One trick the banks are using is to offer a premium account with added bonuses such as insurance for a fee.

Research by uSwitch reveals that 16 per cent of British bank customers believe they had been automatically upgraded to a fee paying packaged account.

However, while the banks may claim insurance policies are worth hundreds of pounds a year, often clients already have such policies - for example for mobile phones or travel – or the policies carry exceptions that make it hard to claim, like not providing cover for winter sports.

Citibank has announced it is to move 150,000 customers from a free account to one charging £10 a month and First Direct has began charging around 200,000 customers £10 a month for their current account.

Citibank claims the switch - which will give clients a raft of insurance policies – was following customer research. However, while switching people automatically to a new, the bank is also establishing a free account, which customers can choose to change their accounts to if they desire.

Lloyds TSB is also set to implement a £35 fee for credit card customers that "display low usage" - which means if you don't use your card or have it in case of emergencies you will be charged for the privilege. Also MBNA will charge credit card customers £10 if they have a positive balance.

Many see the reason that the banks are bringing in the charges as simple. They want to make more money. A recent ruling by the Office of Fair Trading made the banks cut back on fees for late payment on credit cards and a similar one is expected in the coming months for unauthorised overdrafts and bounced cheques. Also record numbers of people are claiming back unfair fees - with many consumer rights websites offering template letters to send to banks to claim fees back and the Financial Ombudsman recording record levels of complaints against bank charges.

It is thought that as much as £50 million has been claimed back already, and as the campaign gains ground banks could be forced to pay back even more.

With this loss of income, the banks are thought trying to find ways to keep their shareholders happy and bolster profits. However, the banks claim running a current account is costly and such fees only represent a small amount of all their profits.

Whatever the reason banks are starting to increase charges for current accounts, and under whatever veil, the simple way to fight against it is to change accounts to one that is free, an option I didn't have in Poland where all the banks demand a fee. By switching Britain can send the message to banks that the UK is a nation of free banking, now and forever more.