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Bank of America to Charge $5 Debit Card Fee

Doc

Bottoms Up
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
So, when the country's largest bank does this I figure the rest will soon follow. Just like ATM's that all were free to use, they encouraged their use and once we were hooked they started charging us to use them. Now they are going to charge $5 per month simply to have the debit card if you use it for purchases. Duh. Who doesn't use them for purchases?


Bank of America Corp plans to charge customers who use their debit cards to make purchases a $5 monthly fee beginning early next year, joining other banks scrambling for new sources of revenue.

U.S. banks have been looking for ways to increase revenue as regulations introduced since the financial crisis limited the use of overdraft and other fees.

The Dodd-Frank Act's Durbin amendment, due to go into effect on Oct. 1, caps fees banks can charge merchants for processing debit card transactions at 21 cents per transaction from an average of 44 cents, potentially costing banks billions of dollars.

Banks also face broader operational challenges as low interest rates and higher capital requirements hit profitability, and the sluggish economy depresses loan demand.

Other large U.S. banks including Wells Fargo & Co, JPMorgan Chase & Co and SunTrust Banks Inc are testing or planning monthly debit card fees.

``The economics of offering a debit card have changed,'' Bank of America spokeswoman Anne Pace said on Thursday. Bank of America is the largest U.S. bank by assets.

Senator Richard Durbin, architect of debit card interchange fee reform, bashed the proposed monthly fee. ``Bank of America is trying to find new ways to pad their profits by sticking it to its customers,'' he said in a statement. It's overt, unfair, and I hope their customers have the final say.''

entire article: http://www.foxbusiness.com/industri...to-charge-debit-card-use-fee/?test=latestnews
 

Lia

Banned
I don't doubt that that will happen in the Uk also; Banks over here have had their renue generators capped by new legislation also. And, I suspect that that will spread to all of Europe. Its funny, isn't it, how they all (governments, and policy makers around the globe), seem to act in unison? :whistling:
 

jimbo

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
There are simple answers if this is a problem:

Don't do business with BAC
Don't use debit cards - I have never had a store refuse a credit card, and the bank is willing to loan me the price for up to thirty days instead of taking my money up front

If you have balances on your cards, just get another no or low fee card and use it as a debit card, paying it off each billing cycle.

Less than a month ago I set up a checking account with my son in a small bank here. No fee, no minimum balance, also comes with a debit card if I want one - I started it with $55 - so they are still around, and besides I can walk into their headquarters and take my complaints to the head man.
 

muleman

Gone But Not Forgotten
GOLD Site Supporter
If they charge silly ass fees they are no longer my bank. I don't think our local banks will try that around here. Too many folks will pull their money and go elsewhere.
 

Cowboy

Wait for it.
GOLD Site Supporter
Too many folks will pull their money and go elsewhere.
I did that a long time ago, for some reason I dont trust any buisness with my money that claims to keep my money safe because they are "government insured" . Thanks but no thanks. :doh:
 

Lia

Banned
If they charge silly ass fees they are no longer my bank. I don't think our local banks will try that around here. Too many folks will pull their money and go elsewhere.

But, what if they all follow suit, as is likely? They're all feeling the squeeze because their revenue avenues are being closed off. the fat cats will still want their obscene bonuses, and someone's gotta pay for them. :unsure:
 

bczoom

Super Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
If they charge silly ass fees they are no longer my bank. I don't think our local banks will try that around here. Too many folks will pull their money and go elsewhere.

But, what if they all follow suit, as is likely?
If they all follow suit, we all follow suit. If 90% of banks follow and 10% don't, you can bet that the latter will be getting a whole bunch of new customers and the cash that comes with them.

I don't use a BOA debit card but I'll be dropping my BOA credit card with them because of this. Too bad (for them) since it's my day-to-day card and gets hit pretty darn hard.
 

Lia

Banned
I don't use a BOA debit card but I'll be dropping my BOA credit card with them because of this. Too bad (for them) since it's my day-to-day card and gets hit pretty darn hard.

I rarely use my credit cards, and always pay anything spent on them at the end of the month. I use debit cards almost all the time. I never dip into the overdrafts on accounts, they're just there as an emergency buffer. I don't wanna give the bank anything surplus to requirements; they're all greedy... And I say that as someone who has two family members in banking. lol
 

bczoom

Super Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
If I use a debit card 3 times in a year, it was a bad year.

I use credit a lot because if there's a fraudulent purchase, I call the CC company and am done. If someone gets your debit card number, you're screwed.

I never carry a balance on my CC so I don't ever pay interest.
 

Doc

Bottoms Up
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
If I use a debit card 3 times in a year, it was a bad year.

I use credit a lot because if there's a fraudulent purchase, I call the CC company and am done. If someone gets your debit card number, you're screwed.

I never carry a balance on my CC so I don't ever pay interest.
From my experience that is not true BC. I had a debit card number compromised. Somehow someone on the internet got it and it was used for charges from New Egg, Amazon and other online businesses. The merchandise was being shipped to Tennessee. Once I saw it and reported it all charges were reversed and the whole incident didn't cost me a penny.

I used my debit card a lot. I prefer it over the credit card. If these types of fees get enacted I suppose I'll have to switch to a credit card to save me the aggravation of the debit card fee.
 

AAUTOFAB1

Bronze Member
SUPER Site Supporter
my free checking account (Wells Fargo)was supposed to be free,the teller informed me it now requires a minimum balance, and would be charged $5 a month if the account got lower than the minimum,i just shut down the account then and there and told them to make sure they didn't change my business checking or they would loose that account too.
 

Lia

Banned
I used my debit card a lot. I prefer it over the credit card. If these types of fees get enacted I suppose I'll have to switch to a credit card to save me the aggravation of the debit card fee.

I too prefer my debit cards over credit cards, and generally only use one of my credit cards which generate points that can be used for all sorts of things, such as air miles, etc. But I always pay the balance off monthly.
Thinking about this thread, it stands to reason that all banks are expected to follow suit, since it must be obvious that the BOA would not jeopardize their business if they didn’t know that there was nowhere else for its patrons to run to. What corporate business would intentionally drive their patrons into the arms of the competition? Or, is it that BOA stretches it arms so far under a corporate umbrella that it doesn’t need to be concerned about the loss of revenue in this area, since those same dissatisfied customers will be running right back into the fire without realizing that they’re signing up, possibly with the same corporation, which is merely using a different title/name?

Just thinking out loud here… :unsure:
 

muleman

Gone But Not Forgotten
GOLD Site Supporter
There have been a bunch of articles about the new fees some of the banks are pushing. The whole problem is the banks have all become mega banks and the days of community type banks with local decisions etc. are gone. It is rare to find a bank that has not followed the merger,merger trend.
 

300 H and H

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
BOA is doing it because the others are fallowing with much the same fee's. Makes you wonderif they don't all sit at the same table and decide what "their competetors" are going to do. Then act in unison. The Sherman act? Since when it that one enforced these days.:hammer: Their lawyers keep them "clean"

There are many small banks in my part of the country, and these bumbs can be avoided athe the local level. I suggest more folks do their banking at any bank that is well rated, but is not at the national level. They are out there, but you have to look, I am thinking.

Regards, Kirk
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
YOU ARE ALL WRONG.

BANK OF AMERICA is only doing this because earlier this year Illinois Senator Dick Durbin slapped banks with a new FEE. (I'd call it a tax but Durbin doesn't use that word even if that is exactly what it is).

So in response to paying the new "FEE" that was recently imposed, the banks are responding with pass along fees to offset the new fee they got smacked with. B of A is simply the first bank to pass along the fee in a very public way. If you think your bank is going to roll over and not pass on the tax, um I mean fee, then you are crazy. In some way, perhaps by lowering interest, or by doing something else, you will pay this new fee.

I've said it before, will say it again. Corporations do not pay taxes. They simply pass them on to consumers. :hammer:
 

waybomb

Well-known member
GOLD Site Supporter
I don't get this whole debit card thing. I don't have one. I keep cash in my pocket. If I ain't got the cash on me, I don't buy it.
As far as I am concern, charge $25 a month for the damn things. Maybe that will keep my checking account free.
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
I don't get this whole debit card thing. I don't have one. I keep cash in my pocket. If I ain't got the cash on me, I don't buy it.
As far as I am concern, charge $25 a month for the damn things. Maybe that will keep my checking account free.

I'm your polar opposite. I rarely carry cash. A debit card is simply plastic cash. It takes the money right out of my checking account, no different than spending cash, except I only have to carry that little piece of plastic and not a wad of bills.

For the most part, debit cards are tied to checking accounts. Might want to see if your checking account includes a debit card. There may be a fee in your future!
 

300 H and H

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
I am a bit old fashined like waybomb....Cash is still my king....

What electronic is really secure, these days? The old ways were still more so IMHO. I wonder how long before a major bank is brought to it's knee's because their system was hacked, and the money is gone...

Good point Bob, I did not know that was the case, with the extra government fee...

Regards, Kirk
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
I am a bit old fashined like waybomb....Cash is still my king....

What electronic is really secure, these days? The old ways were still more so IMHO. I wonder how long before a major bank is brought to it's knee's because their system was hacked, and the money is gone...

Good point Bob, I did not know that was the case, with the extra government fee...

Regards, Kirk
Well honestly I've been thinking some thoughts about switching to cash, largely because of concerns about identity theft. I think that is the biggest risk with Credit and/or Debit cards. Had not really considered a bank losing its money to hacking but that would certainly make for an interesting movie!

As for the new fee. Yup, blame Senator Dick Durbin. In fact the Chicago radio stations were all up in arms over this fee and were blaming Dick for screwing the little guy while proclaiming his compassion for the poor. Charge a bank a tax, expect a new fee. Charge an oil company a windfall profit tax, expect to pay more at the gas pump. Increase tobacco taxes and I'll personally be re-stickering the cigars in my humidor with new 'improved' prices! :hammer:
 

waybomb

Well-known member
GOLD Site Supporter
Wifey won't let me smoke cigars indoors. Today the wind has finally died, so I'll be hypothetically trying a picture of Havana Punch this evening after dinner.
 

Doc

Bottoms Up
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Well honestly I've been thinking some thoughts about switching to cash, largely because of concerns about identity theft. I think that is the biggest risk with Credit and/or Debit cards. Had not really considered a bank losing its money to hacking but that would certainly make for an interesting movie!

As for the new fee. Yup, blame Senator Dick Durbin. In fact the Chicago radio stations were all up in arms over this fee and were blaming Dick for screwing the little guy while proclaiming his compassion for the poor. Charge a bank a tax, expect a new fee. Charge an oil company a windfall profit tax, expect to pay more at the gas pump. Increase tobacco taxes and I'll personally be re-stickering the cigars in my humidor with new 'improved' prices! :hammer:

Not only did Senator Dick Durbin and gang institute a new fee, they limited how much the banks could charge the merchants per debit card transaction. Congress shackled the banks, so the banks are finding a new way to keep their income / fees coming in. Charge the holder of the card.

We've all said it before and see it in action now. Tax big corporations more and in the end it is all passed on to the consumer. Obama and Congress have to know this but they preach as if they are out to save the poor and middle class when in actuality all they are doing is having the corporations do the dirty work so we pay more in fees instead of taxes but it all comes out of our incomes. :angry:

I use a combination of both cash and debit card and like having the option.
 

Gatorboy

Active member
I don't understand the debit card either. I use my credit card and pay it off each month. I incur no fees.
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Not only did Senator Dick Durbin and gang institute a new fee, they limited how much the banks could charge the merchants per debit card transaction. Congress shackled the banks, so the banks are finding a new way to keep their income / fees coming in. Charge the holder of the card.

...Tax big corporations more and in the end it is all passed on to the consumer. Obama and Congress have to know this but they preach as if they are out to save the poor and middle class when in actuality all they are doing is having the corporations do the dirty work so we pay more in fees instead of taxes but it all comes out of our incomes...

Doc you nailed it.

I'm surprised by the thread here with people not knowing all of this. Honestly I think many of the ForumForum members are very well versed in the news.

So YES, Doc posted the gist of the entire story.

The Senate Banking Oversight Committee, headed up by Illinois own class warfare advocate Dick Durbin, in an "effort to help" the little people he steps on daily, instituted new banking regulations and fees a while back. Not only are the banks charged more to simply operate within the system, the regulations limit what banks can charge to retailers and so, in an effort to recoup lost profits, the banks had to get creative and find a new way to pass along their costs. Since the banks were forbidden from charging retailers, they had little choice but to directly charge the consumer.

So Durbin "helped" us all out and we are paying $5 a month more.

This is very similar to Obama "helping" us with healthcare. He actually promised that our premiums would drop about $2500 per year! How is that working out for you? LINKY => http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politic...nes-unfulfilled-promises-of-health-care-bill/
 

jimbo

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
Not only did Senator Dick Durbin and gang institute a new fee, they limited how much the banks could charge the merchants per debit card transaction. Congress shackled the banks, so the banks are finding a new way to keep their income / fees coming in. Charge the holder of the card.

We've all said it before and see it in action now. Tax big corporations more and in the end it is all passed on to the consumer. Obama and Congress have to know this but they preach as if they are out to save the poor and middle class when in actuality all they are doing is having the corporations do the dirty work so we pay more in fees instead of taxes but it all comes out of our incomes. :angry:

I use a combination of both cash and debit card and like having the option.
Did you ever notice that if you follow most problems back to their original sources, somehow it ends up in the government's lap?

Seems like since more taxes are a no no in government, and sticking it to the corporation has been successfully marketed, imposing new fees on corporations instead of taxes is the way to go. Either way in the end the people get stuck for the bill.
 
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