Photo by James Sanna | Banker & Tradesman staff

Citizens Bank plans to eliminate nonsufficient funds fees by the end of the year, a move being made as more banks continue to take steps to address the effects banking fees have on consumers.

In addition to eliminating the fee when a payment is returned for insufficient funds, the Providence-based bank said in a statement today that it has launched a service to let customers access their paychecks up to two days in advance, known as earned wage access.

The bank said these services were part of a series of changes “to provide customers with greater transparency, flexibility, and certainty regarding their finances.”

Banks have faced criticism from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, consumer advocates and lawmakers over the effects of banking fees on low- and moderate-income consumers.

Other banks have announced plans to eliminate nonsufficient funds fees, including Bank of America and M&T Bank. Hyannis-based Cape Cod 5recently joined Capital One and Citibank in eliminating both nonsufficient funds fees and overdraft fees.

Some banks have reduced the fees or taken steps to help customers avoid them. Citizens last fall had launched a service that gave customers a one-day grace period to address overdrafts that occurred on their accounts.

Citizens said today that it would also eliminate the fee associated with the bank’s overdraft protection service, which uses a linked account to prevent an overdraft. The bank plans to eliminate that fee by the end of June.

“We continue to innovate, simplify our product set and help empower our customers to feel more confident with their finances,” Brendan Coughlin, head of consumer banking at Citizens, said in the statement. “Today’s announcements demonstrate our ongoing commitment to serve as our customers trusted financial partner, as well as add value to their daily lives by enabling them to get paid even faster than their employer scheduled.”