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Effective November 2, 2011, SunTrust will no longer be charging a check card fee on any consumer checking accounts. If you received notice that your account would be subject to this fee, please disregard it. If you have previously been charged this fee, you will receive a full refund within the next 30 days.

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Nov 01, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- In response to customer feedback and the changing competitive marketplace, Bank of America no longer intends to implement a debit usage fee. "We have listened to our customers very closely over the last few weeks and recognize their concern with our proposed debit usage fee," said David Darnell, co-chief operating officer. "Our customers' voices are most important to us. As a result, we are not currently charging the fee and will not be moving forward with any additional plans to do so." Bank of America

A month after Bank of America got pummeled by consumers and politicians for introducing plans for new debit-card fees, most other big U.S. banks are steering clear of imposing similar charges. Following eight months of consumer testing, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. has decided that it won't charge customers who use their debit cards to make purchases, according to a person familiar with the bank's plans. The New York bank's Chase retail unit is one of the largest U.S. consumer banks, with 26.5 million checking accounts and 5,300 branches. J.P. Morgan joins U.S. Bancorp, Citigroup Inc., PNC Financial Services Group...

There are many observations that can be made about President Obama’s remark Monday to ABC News that businesses “don’t have some inherent right just to get a certain amount of profit if your customers are being mistreated.” In and of itself, this comment reveals much about his beliefs and knowledge (or lack thereof) on economics, consumer choice, and the private sector in general. But in the context in which it was made — Bank of America, Citi, and other banks’ recently announced debit-card and checking-account fees for consumers, which they are charging to recoup losses from the Dodd-Frank financial-overhaul law’s...

Economic indicators are falling. The Fed issued a gloomy report on the future of the economy, saying that the so-called recovery may be “faltering.� Greece has only enough cash to make payroll for a few weeks before it defaults and flattens the European banking system. The only thing missing from a collapse is a good, old-fashioned bank run.Enter Dick Durbin (h/t Ryan K):video platformvideo managementvideo solutionsvideo player Holding up a plastic debit card on the Senate floor this afternoon, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., had some advice for Bank of America customers angry about the new $5 monthly fee: leave.“Bank of...

The law of unintended consequenes accompanies every piece of legislation passed by congress. Conservatives recognize this fact of life; liberals don't. That's how we get 3000 page health insurance "reform" bills and gigantic headaches like Dodd-Frank; a measure designed to "protect" consumers but whose unintended consequences will make credit harder to get for most, and cost consumers more in the long run. The "Durbin fee" on debit cards is one such unintended consequence: Durbin pitched his amendment, which empowered federal bureaucrats to fix the fees banks can charge merchants for each debit card transaction at 24 cents, as a blow...

Citibank is next with a new banking fee The Bank of America rival says it will begin charging for checking accounts unless customers keep more on deposit. By E. Scott Reckard, Los Angeles Times September 30, 2011, 6:12 p.m. Another day, another new bank fee. As the uproar swelled over Bank of America Corp.'s planned $5 monthly charge for debit card use, megabank rival Citigroup Inc. was notifying many Citibank customers that they soon would have to start paying for their checking accounts unless they maintained significantly higher balances. Letters are going out across the country alerting Citi customers of...

My bank manager visited my shop yesterday with some alarming news. Somebody in England used my business debit card for a series of purchases. No biggie. Just claim fraud and get my money back. Not so fast. Turns out that US businesses are on a card check system for which I needed to sign up in order to have a secure code. Who knew? Now I find I have no recourse for the fraud perpetrated against me. The merchant cannot be required to give me information about the purchaser who stole my identity because I was not registered for a...

<p>NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) is joining a growing number of banks that are introducing or testing a monthly fee for debit cards, casting around for revenue lost to debit-card regulatory restrictions.</p> <p>Wells Fargo, the nation's second-largest bank by deposits, will charge a $3 fee for debit and automated-teller-machine cards as of Oct. 14 in several states if such cards are used for purchases (but not for ATM usage). The bank said it is a pilot program, and it will monitor how people respond.</p>

<p>KNOXVILLE (AP) - A University of Georgia graduate assistant and a Baton Rouge, La., waitress have been indicted by a federal grand jury in Knoxville in a scam to steal debit and credit card information from restaurant customers.</p> <p>Waitress Shena Everett was in court Wednesday in Knoxville on a charge of conspiracy to commit access device fraud.</p>

It never ends. As part of the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill, the Federal Reserve was tasked with capping the fees banks charge merchants for debit card transactions. This rule on fees was supposed to be finalized by April of this year and to take effect by July, but the banks and their lobbyists have been screaming bloody murder. They've also been throwing around lots of cash. See here. And it worked! Call it the glory of "bi-partisanship." According to reports, Democrat Senators, including Jon Tester of Montana, and Republic Senators, including Bob Corker of Tennessee, are now drafting legislation to...

This week, state Sen. Michael Rubio will introduce legislation that would prohibit food stamps from being used to purchase "junk food" or prepared meals at fast-food restaurants. "The question is what should we be using taxpayer funds to purchase," the Bakersfield Democrat said Tuesday. "In my opinion, we should be focusing on what people need, not what they want." Those needs include foods found in the traditional food pyramid, he said, including breads and cereals, meats, beans, nuts, dairy products and other protein sources, and lots of fruits and vegetables. Rubio's idea is not yet an official Senate bill. But...

Federal limits on debit card processing fees will force banks to charge customers more for services, making accounts too expensive for as many as 5 percent of customers, JPMorgan Chase & Co's chief executive said on Friday. The rules, proposed as part of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law, would cap the fees that merchants pay banks for processing debit card transactions at 12 cents each. That is almost 75 percent less than the average 44 cents per transaction that banks get now. U.S. banks could lose about $13 billion of their annual industry debit processing revenues because of the rules,...

<p>NEW YORK — The Federal Reserve on Thursday proposed a 12-cent cap on the fees banks would be allowed to charge merchants for debit card transactions, a limit that could sharply cut into the revenue of the banks that issue debit cards.</p>

OAKLAND, Calif. -- A Northern California city is moving forward with plans for a municipal identification card that is being touted as the first in the nation that would double as a full-fledged debit card. The Oakland City Council this month awarded a contract to issue the cards. The goal is to help any city residents, including illegal immigrants, who may have difficulty obtaining a state-issued ID.

"In a decision handed down late Tuesday, U.S. District Judge William Alsup accused Wells Fargo of "profiteering" by changing its policies to process checks, debit card transactions and bill payments from the highest dollar amount to the lowest, rather than in the order the transactions took place. That helped drain customer bank accounts faster and drive up overdraft fees, a policy Alsup referred to as "gouging and profiteering.""

A week from today, one in 10 New Yorkers who use debit cards will be red-faced at a retail checkout counter when their cards are declined. That's because Aug. 15 is the kickoff day for new federal rules requiring existing bank and credit union customers to opt in for debit-card and ATM overdraft coverage -- a massive change in banking regulation that many consumers have ignored or failed to notice. The choice for customers is this: Opt in to overdraft coverage, meaning you can use your debit card even if you overdraw your account, but pay a $20-$30 penalty every...

NOTE The following text SNIPPET is a quote: International Hacker Arraigned After Extradition Elaborate Scheme Stole over $9.4 Million from Credit Card Processor ATLANTA, GA—SERGEI TŠURIKOV, 26, of Tallinn, Estonia, has been extradited to the United States. TŠURIKOV appeared today and was arraigned before United States Magistrate Judge E. Clayton Scofield III, on federal charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit computer fraud, computer fraud, and aggravated identity theft. TŠURIKOV was indicted by a federal grand jury on these charges on November 10, 2010, along with VIKTOR PLESHCHUK, 29, of St. Petersburg, Russia; OLEG COVELIN,...

The gal at the car wash this morning said that banks were charging 50 cents per debit transaction on people's accounts. She heard it on the news and the man who set up the debit machine at the car wash told her as well. She said that the banks are not making enough on credit cards because people are using debit cards more. I have dug around on bank sites but have not found this. Does anyone know?

A Bid for Payments to Become Cheaper and More Secure The Treasury Department plans to introduce a prepaid debit card for Social Security recipients in an effort to provide safer and cheaper benefits payments. The Direct Express debit card, set to be announced today, will be introduced in a handful of states this spring and rolled out nationwide by the end of the summer. Dallas-based Comerica Inc.'s Comerica Bank has been selected as the card issuer for the program, which is targeted at Social Security and Supplemental Security Income recipients who don't have a bank account. The card could mean...

Capital One, the McLean financial services company, announced yesterday that it will purchase NetSpend Holdings, a retail seller of prepaid debit cards, for $700 million. The acquisition would give Capital One, best known for its credit card offerings, a bigger presence in the growing market for prepaid debit cards and extend its reach to the estimated 70 million U.S. citizens who don't have bank accounts, the company said. "It's adjacent to our core business," said Tatiana Stead, a spokeswoman for Capital One. "We now have an opportunity to provide an option for everybody." Prepaid debit cards can be used like...

Redmond police have arrested the owner of a local smoke shop after dozens of customers who used their debit cards at his store discovered that their bank accounts had been siphoned. One customer, a businessman, took a client to lunch, and the restaurant declined his debit card. Some victims suffered $900 in losses. Others took hits as high as $3,000, police said. So far, investigators have identified at least 26 victims who were customers of US Bank and Washington Mutual, police records show. The 35-year-old suspect in this case is believed to be part of a large crime ring operating...

WASHINGTON — The federal government's relief agency said Friday it will discontinue its program to distribute debit cards worth up to $2,000 to hurricane victims, two days after hastily announcing the novel plan to provide quick relief. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (search) said it will scrap the program once officials finish distributing cards this weekend at shelters in Dallas, Houston and San Antonio, where many of the evacuees were moved. No cards will be issued to victims in other states.

VICTORIA - Two men from Montreal have been arrested in Victoria in what police are calling the most sophisticated debit-card fraud they've ever seen. Police Insp. Bill Naughton says investigators seized a "Trojan" card reader – a device that records debit-card information, including PINs. Police allege the suspects recruited store cashiers to replace real bank debit machines with their reader, and then transferred the information to counterfeit cards. Naughton says those new cards were used weeks or even months later, usually in foreign countries. "So if your grandmother, for example, had been using her card in Oak Bay to purchase...

<p>NEW YORK (AP) -- The familiar process of buying something with a credit card -- handing the plastic to the clerk or swiping it yourself, then waiting for approval and signing the receipt -- could be headed the way of the mechanical brass cash register.</p>

<p>The lawyers who negotiated a $3 billion debit-card settlement for the nation's biggest retailers have submitted their bill: $558 million, including expenses.</p> <p>The settlement reached in May brought an end to a seven-year legal battle that produced nearly 400 depositions, five million documents, and 54 expert reports, and changed the way credit-card companies charge retailers to process their cards.</p>