Posted on 10/02/2011 9:36:18 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
(The news that BofA customers will soon shoulder a monthly charge for debit purchases sparks outrage — and threats to abandon the bank altogether.)
Bank of America, proclaiming that its bottom line is hurt by new legislation that limits how much money banks can charge retailers for the privilege of letting customers pay with debit cards, announced that it will make up for those losses by charging customers a $5 monthly fee. The fee takes effect in 2012 and affects any customer who makes debit purchases. ATM and credit card transactions will remain free. Predictably, the bank's customers are not happy. Fox Business Network's Gerri Willis even cut up her debit card on air. The company's stock tumbled Friday morning following the news, and customers are threatening to leave the bank.
How much will this backlash hurt BofA?
Customers are going to jump ship: "I've been a more-or-less satisfied Bank of America customer for years," says Jon Gorey at The Street. But if the bank intends to charge a $5 monthly fee for "something I can do elsewhere for free, I'm gone." There are plenty of other options, including local banks and online-only competitors like ING Direct, which, unlike Bank of America, aren't charging any fees for debit use. "Thank you, competitive free market."
This could spell the end of debit: It's easy for customers to avoid these fees, says Daniel Indiviglio at The Atlantic. "They just have to stop using their debit cards." And it's likely that they will. A $5-a-month fee to use debit "would push me not to use it in any case other than emergencies" — especially when that fee doesn't apply to withdrawing cash from an ATM or using a credit card. Indeed, "debit could fade away altogether." "Did Congress kill the debit card?"
Hold on. BofA might change its mind: Sadly, Bank of America isn't the only bank set to start charging debit fees, says Sarah Halzack at The Washington Post. But many see the new fees as "trial balloons" — they're testing customers to see how many will tolerate the charges. Consumers should continue to be vocal about their displeasure with these banks, "as they might ax the fee if enough customers gripe about it." "In wake of Bank of America's new debit charge, tips on how to avoid fees"
Actually, Bank of America may win this fight: For now, angry customers are threatening to abandon the bank, says Jessica Dickler at CNN. But it's Bank of America "that could have the last laugh." After all, changing banks isn't exactly a breeze.
Once consumers realize the hassle of it all — from having checks printed to switching their automatic payments — they're likely going to suck it up and stay with Bank of America.
” - - - Thank You, Chris Dodd. Good riddance. Take that Frank guy with you while you are going out the door. - - - “
To Parley Baer: I agree with you. The Dodd-Frank Bill/LAW/bill, (it is still a bill as regulators will be writing it for the next 6 years; in fact, there are children still in high school who could someday write regulations for this Bill/LAW/bill ).
It was the perfect CYA move by those responsible for the bankruptcy in September, 2008 of the FHA/Freddie/Fannie housing/loan disaster. I call it the bursting of the Fannie Bubble.
BTW, “that Frank guy” you mentioned is none other than Robo-Congressman Sub-Prime Barney Frank.
As Reagan said: “ Businesses do not pay taxes, consumers pay all of the taxes.” The same holds true for who ultimately pays the price when businesses are punished by Public Enemy Number One, Yep, The US Federal Government. There is no free lunch, deal with it.
OF COURSE, the consumer’s costs will go up EVERY time our sorry Federal Government tries to “help” us! Remember what Reagan said again: “The eleven most terrifying words in the English language are ‘ We are from THE GOVERNMENT and we are here to help.’ “
Seems like you have bought into Bank-Bashing-Obama’s original CYA of blaming the collapse of the VERY highly Federally regulated Federal Housing Authority, ( it even sounds like a socialistic name), along with the highly corrupt, very poorly regulated, semi-Federal Government Companies of Freddie, and Fanny on the VERY, VERY, highly Federal Government REGULATED major Banks.
The unregulated sources of money, FHA, Freddie and, of course, dear old Fannie have ALL been protected by the smoke-screen CYA Dodd-Frank Bill/LAW/bill.
Here are a couple of REALITY checks for you to consider:
1.) Follow the history of the Sub-Prime Law, and all of the public supporters of the law: IMPEACHED Sick Willy, Sub-Prime Barney, Chrissie-the-Doodle-Dodd, “I-don’t-believe-it Greenish-brain-span, “Deficits-don’t-matter Bush, ex-Sheriff of Nottingham Walk-the-plank-Hank Paulson etc.
2.) Follow the Money.
3.) Follow the CYA hearings, CYA speeches (remember the vitriol when a 90 % personal Federal income tax was passed by the US House to punish employees for earning more than baseball players? ), and, of course, the ultimate living CYA Bill/LAW/bill of Chrissie and Frankie.
Ping me if you choose to do a thread on any of the 3 above. I won’t hold my breath.
Ah, yes! The faceless tabloid, hostile, MSM! What a wonderful pal they are to the Liberal Intelligentsia Elite, better known as the L.I.E. They believe that business-punitive laws will ONLY hurt business, and NOT consumers. Yeah, right!
They actually believe that we DO NOT hear DEBT, DEBT, DEBT whenever Obama makes a pretty speech about jobs, jobs, jobs! We LISTEN to what he DOES, and WATCH what he SAYS. So far, You Lie Obama has been VERY consistent.
But how can the tabloid, hostile, MSM learn reality when they do not talk, or listen to the Joe the Plumbers of America?
To the L.I.E., and their faithful servants in the tabloid, hostile, Main Stream Media, all WORTHWHILE knowledge resides in the “ little gray cells” of Congress, and the-liberal-President-of-the-day, of course.
Yes indeedy! Just pass any old bill you want, ( they don’t even have to read it before they vote to pass it ), get it signed with the scent of roses filling the air, and presto! the problem that could not be solved by the stupid, tax-burdened serfs is solved FOREVER by their Beltway Feudal Lords! Oh joy! Oh rapture!
SOMETIMES the serfs are to stupid to help the new law work out as planned by the feudal lords of the Beltway. Not a problem! Send in the Regulators, (doesn’t it seem just like a movie about Billy the Kid and The Regulators that he belonged to?). That’s right! What unforeseen consequence missed will be regulated, then controlled and finally destroyed. Regulate, Control, Destroy! Wow! Ain’t having Federal Law a great idea! Wow!
BTW, I heard that all this law stuff is getting a little stressful for elected officials. Obama’s Orszag and the NC Governor think that election-suspension will relieve their tension. Could work because it does rhyme - - - .
Absolutely. Working poor, minorities, unemployed, fixed incomes hardest hit. Where are the Dems? These policies hurt their constituencies hardest.
Of course it's their own regulatory law which prompted this to happen so they'll blame the banks and nothing will change.
See my post 56.
“Everyone is in it for himself. The trick is to devise a system where good behavior is profitable. In that respect, regulation does not beat competition. Regulation simply substitutes the politicians’ preferences for those of the consumer. But in the end, it’s still the consumer who pays for them.”
Yep. I understand that. But since I’m in it for myself, it was to my benefit to get away from this particular business a year ago - which was a year too long. :)
“no one made them do it.”
No one made Congress pass Dodd/Frank.
As you point out, they would not have gotten away with this but for the fact that all of the banks are adding this fee. If they are all adding this fee, that just proves it’s not BOA’s fault. It’s Congress’s.
I don’t want to beat a dead horse, but this event is not a surprise. The critics of Dodd/Frank have been saying this was going to happen since before it was passed. It’s basic economics. You are more likely to get what you want if you place the blame where it belongs, on Congress where the mistake was made. Blaming it on BOA is what Congress wants you to do. That way, they don’t need to take the heat. Indeed, many of them will say “Hey, this is fun. Let’s do it again.”
Hehe, Netflix was the first thing I thought about when I looked over this thread.
My bank did that for a while. I have a line of credit and I deposit money and then write a check for that amount to pay towards the LOC and they were charging me NSF for the check. They always withdrew the charge but I had to speak up, they don’t do that anymore, I think it caused more problems than it was worth.
And USAA
Netflix really screwed the pooch...
I changed it today; saved myself $10 a month...I didn’t realize they basically UPGRADED everyone without even asking. Grrrr! So, THANKS!!Funny how that worked out. Our cost to use Netflix snail mail discs went down. We don't and never have used streaming -- service for one or the other costs less than for both.
It’s to the point that I’ll wait for movies from the library. Hell, my Tax Dollars are paying for them anyway, and I don’t need to see a movie the second it comes out; if it’s THAT good, it’ll be available for years to come. :)
Netflix is now down by 600,001 LOL!
I just got a job as a teller at the Credit Union of which we’ve been members for almost 24 years! We’re asking our members to pass on the info about our FREE checking accounts to their friends, especially those who might be disgruntled B of A customers. ;o)
Netflix signed me up for streaming without asking me. I guess you had to to opt-out and I must’ve missed it. I’ve never used that feature, either.
I am entirely happy with their selection and I’ve had ONE bad disc in many, many years.
But, really. Why p*ss off 600K or your users? Pretty dumb.
Good on you! My CU looks like a great place to work, too. (Filing that way in case I need to, LOL!) :)
I was really amazed at how Netflix ruined themselves; I was a paying member, mulling over whether or not to keep subscribing and go figure, they told me about the price increase.
They must’ve installed one of dem dare ‘Harvard Bidness School’ graduates as the new president of the company. That’s the only thing I can figure... *SMIRK*
I received a ‘personalized’ e-mail from the guy, pretty much TELLING me how it was gonna be and how HAPPY I should be to keep handing over my hard-earned cash to him for a service I never use, LOL!
Really, REALLY dumb.
Whenever I see the Left and the Right agree on something,
like this stupidity of blaming the banks for the confiscatory
policies of your beloved government, then
I run for the hills!
Full disclosure: I’m a BofA and Citi customer,
in addition to likely being an investor through
my mutual funds, I love private banks, as they serve
my and other citizens needs, even if I have some
petty complaints about this or that aspect of their
services.
We finally dumped BofA a few months ago for a local credit union. We were sick of being nickel-and-dimed to death, and when I heard about Wells Fargo doing this, I knew it was only a matter of time. Our credit union has truly been a breath of fresh air. We are much happier there.
We considered USAA, but honestly, I prefer to have a physical branch to go to and speak to someone face to face for certain things.
By the end of the year all major banks will have some type of fee if; they don't have a monthly card usage fee like BofA then they will find another way to nick you for the money. Anyway it's Bush's fault.
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