COMMENTARY | Bank of America has jumped on the bandwagon and dismissed its plan to charge monthly debit card fees. I give kudos to Bank of America as well as all the other banks who have already dropped the fees or are following suit. Let's give them all a thumbs-up for realizing that their customers' satisfaction was truly important since dissatisfied customers makes for very bad business.
Had all of the banks' plans for debit card fees gone into effect as planned, it would have been a historic move in one of two ways. It would have either led the way to making monthly debit card fees the norm or it would have been marked as the day the big banks fell, yet again.
The initial response of the media was that Bank of America would lead the way for monthly debit card charges. Most thought that all big banks would follow suit and the consumer would just be forced to deal with the additional monthly fee. Thanks to loud public response however, consumers have turned the table on the big banks caused the corporations to back down from their plans.
The outcry of consumers after the announcement of Bank of America's debit card fees brought attention onto other banks that were also planning or already testing the monthly fee. Seeing as how consumers are what banks rely upon to pay the fees which create the profits, it is only natural that the big banks started to cave one by one to the pressure of the angry public.
Why it took Bank of America's debit card fees to push consumers over the edge and create the backlash against all of the banks is not absolutely certain but we consumers are lucky that it did. Now is certainly not the time when we want to see new monthly fees being charged to us. It is hard enough to hold onto a steady job, let alone keep up a bank account. If that account were to start charging extra fees that we are not used to, it would be nearly impossible to realign our budgets to make room for these fees. Even though $3-5 doesn't seem like a large number by itself, when you are pinching pennies to make ends meet, any dollar amount makes a huge difference.
Banks too, should be thankful that it sparked such an inflamed outrage from the public because they could have gone ahead with their plans for the monthly fee and then watched in horror as their consumers gradually left them. Now instead of that fate, they have a chance to save face with their customers and keep their business.
The purpose of the monthly debit card charge was to recover the loss in profit from fees paid by merchants who accept debit cards. Because banks were recently forced to limit the amount they charged merchants on debit card transactions they hoped to make up some of the difference by charging the consumer for using their debit cards. Since these plans are now being dropped, the banks are going to have to find another route to recoup.
What this means for the consumer is yet to be determined, but consumers should be aware that even though the monthly debit card charges have been beaten, other fees may pop up in the near future to replace them. We will have to wait and see what those fees end up being, and whether they'll cause a similar uproar when announced.
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