It looks like the end of free banking is in sight, after telephone bank First Direct announced it's starting to charge customers a £10 monthly fee to run their current accounts.

If you pay in a salary of at least £1,500 , or have a minimum balance of that amount, the fee will be waived. If you buy another First Direct banking product, you'll also miss the charge, This Is Money reported.

The news comes as the banks are being forced to lower the time it takes for a cheque to clear and the money to become available.

If your account pays interest, you will start to receive interest on your cheques within two days.

The changes have been ordered by the Payment Systems Task Force, which is led by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT).