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Friday, October 07, 2011

Are Debit Card Fees Meant to Get Consumers to Use Credit Cards More?

Why are Bank of America and other financial institutions charging new monthly fees for debit card usage? The move has predictably caused a backlash, and the net result may be that fewer customers will keep using debit cards at all. Could that be the point?

At first glance, the purpose of debit card fees is pretty obvious: As Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan told CNN Money, the company has “a right to make a profit,” and the new fees provide increased, regular monthly revenues. In the past, debit cards have been enormously profitable for banks. More recently, it doesn’t look quite as easy for banks to make piles of cash via debit cards because reform measures have changed the rules regarding interchange fees and overdraft policies. To make up for the expected loss in revenues, some banks are passing along new monthly fees to customers who simply want to use their debit cards.

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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dunno. My credit union charges .50c every time we use debit side. we always use credit side to avoid that. still comes right out of same account, same time.

Anonymous said...

No.
The banks have been pushing people away from using cash for years. Now they are going in to make a killing on those stupid enough to use debit cards.
B.T.W.
My bank tried to force me in to taking a debit card a few years ago by saying that they would charge me for my ATM card if I didn't. I argued that debit cards are not secure as someone who gets my card can empty my account without any protection to me. (If my credit card is stolen, the most I'm legally responsible for is $50.00.)
They reliquished and gave me the ATM debit card with a debit limit of $0.00.
DON'T USE ELECTRONIC MONEY IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO!

Anonymous said...

DON'T USE ELECTRONIC MONEY IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO!

October 8, 2011 10:09 AM

That's how most are getting by now.