Bank of America to charge $5/month for debit card use Options

[MickeyM1]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/eco...zGAL_story.html

[bumnummies]

Reality Check: WELCOME TO CANADA.

[SpamGoddess]

I'm already a nanosecond away from switching from my current bank (Chase - ugh I miss Washington Mutual SO bad. ), to just sticking with credit unions. If they decide to implement the same idea, this will definitely be happening.

[Famousgrl]

I'm already a nanosecond away from switching from my current bank (Chase - ugh I miss Washington Mutual SO bad. ), to just sticking with credit unions. If they decide to implement the same idea, this will definitely be happening.

That's the only way they'll change. Everyone should learn to start boycotting.

Imagine all of us boycotted companies who outsourced? We all complain about hearing people who can barely understand us on the other line, but we do nothing about it.

[dcfreak]

Just another example of the banks getting away with robbing the poor and middle class in this country. The wealthy have no use for debit cards.

[druth8x]

Well, this is sad news for small businesses.

Business get charged every time we use our credit cards. They do not when we use our debit cards. So, it is a courtesy to use our debit cards at places of businesses esp at the small businesses.

If shoppers used to use BOA debit cards cancel their debit card account and switch to just credit the businesses will get hit as well with more fees to deal with.

I have 2 different debit cards, a local state wide type bank one and USBank, I hope that they do not in the future start charging for debit use. Some businesses only take debit. For instance, my apt does not want me to use credit, they will take debit though and MO which are $5 fee for each check. Or, places like Costco only take debit, cash or AmEx.

So, for both me and those types of businesses I hope this fee for debit transactions does not become standard practice.

[juniorfan4eva]

Reality Check: WELCOME TO CANADA.

[bumnummies]

IKR? Everyone's complaining but we've been paying fees for YEARS.

...And businesses already get charged up here for Debit usage - so many cents for every transaction (vs Visa and MC which charge a percentage).

So I really don't understand the whining.

Of course I happen to bank somewhere that offers no-fee banking (but then, I don't have a teller - there's like one person who works there that can help with replacement debit cards but deposits and withdrawls are all done through the ATM...), but I have had traditional accounts before at a couple different banks (I still have a savings account at one of them that I use time to time - I pay no monthly fees but instead, I pay 50cents per transaction if I use my debit card!!!).

I'm pretty sure my dad pays over $10 a month for his account. So $5 is a bargain in comparison.


Oh. But then again... we adopted Debit cards looooooong before Americans. Americans still carry loads of cash like no one else on the planet. Whereas Canadians debit everything. EVERYTHING. We even have debit at Tim Hortons now so we're good to not carry cash anymore I work at a grocery store and it honestly shocks me every time when someone makes a large purchase in cash. Occasionally I can tell it's "Birthday money" but that's only if they're buying clothes in my dept usually... not when they're pulling out a wad of cash to pay for their extremely large grocery bill. Weirdos.

This post has been edited by bumnummies: Oct 1st 2011, 10:27 AM

[Quicksilver]

I don't see what the big deal is. Just switch to credit cards and pay it off at the end of each month so you don't incur interest. Now if they start charging for credit cards too, then that'd be a problem.

Well, this is sad news for small businesses.

Business get charged every time we use our credit cards. They do not when we use our debit cards. So, it is a courtesy to use our debit cards at places of businesses esp at the small businesses.

That's not true. Businesses get charged on both debit and credit cards. The reason why Bank of America is doing this though is that there's a new government regulation going in place that will cap fees banks can charge merchants for debit transactions. Credit cards won't have this cap. So Bank of America is trying to make up for that lost revenue. And if not, they hope people will switch to credit cards.

[ionlywantu2stay]

Well, this is sad news for small businesses.

Business get charged every time we use our credit cards. They do not when we use our debit cards. So, it is a courtesy to use our debit cards at places of businesses esp at the small businesses.

If shoppers used to use BOA debit cards cancel their debit card account and switch to just credit the businesses will get hit as well with more fees to deal with.

I have 2 different debit cards, a local state wide type bank one and USBank, I hope that they do not in the future start charging for debit use. Some businesses only take debit. For instance, my apt does not want me to use credit, they will take debit though and MO which are $5 fee for each check. Or, places like Costco only take debit, cash or AmEx.

So, for both me and those types of businesses I hope this fee for debit transactions does not become standard practice.

EXACTLY. Just what we need-more things to hurt small businesses in this economy.

[druth8x]

Oh, they apparently still get charged but not the % which really hurts them:



The difference in cost between debit and credit transactions for a small business is around 3 percent. The business typically pays approximately 30 cents for each debit transaction whereas they pay approximately 30 cents plus 3 percent of the order per credit transaction.



So small business still would prefer debit for sure.

[bumnummies]

Oh, they apparently still get charged but not the % which really hurts them:
The difference in cost between debit and credit transactions for a small business is around 3 percent. The business typically pays approximately 30 cents for each debit transaction whereas they pay approximately 30 cents plus 3 percent of the order per credit transaction.
So small business still would prefer debit for sure.

If anything they'll just put limits on how much you can debit for - say, a $5 minimum which I know most variety stores around here put on transactions. And it's negotiable for businesses that sell volume, you bet Wal-Mart doesn't pay 30 cents a transaction. They pay probably less than 10 cents - and probably not even that. At the end of the day, it's not going to make or break the business. If it's really hurting them, businesses will just raise their prices fractionally to cover the extra costs - though if it's hurting their business that much, it was doomed to fail anyways because things like rent and hydro fluctuate significantly more.

I'll say it again... Canadian businesses have been paying these fees for years and it hasn't hurt any of them up here. It's just a cost of doing business and it's not that unfair. You can't expect to just get things for free, lol. I'm surprised you haven't been paying all along...

[TiredOfSex]

You can't expect to just get things for free, lol. I'm surprised you haven't been paying all along...

We have been. I don't think any bank would offer a merchant card services for free . What would they get out of that?

[D.J.]

You can't expect to just get things for free, lol.

Don't you Canadians get free healthcare?

[juniorfan4eva]

I'm pretty sure my dad pays over $10 a month for his account. So $5 is a bargain in comparison.
Oh. But then again... we adopted Debit cards looooooong before Americans. Americans still carry loads of cash like no one else on the planet. Whereas Canadians debit everything. EVERYTHING. We even have debit at Tim Hortons now so we're good to not carry cash anymore I work at a grocery store and it honestly shocks me every time when someone makes a large purchase in cash. Occasionally I can tell it's "Birthday money" but that's only if they're buying clothes in my dept usually... not when they're pulling out a wad of cash to pay for their extremely large grocery bill. Weirdos.

YES! I also work at a grocery store and when our debit machines go down even for ten minutes the lineups just get longer and longer because NOBODY has cash. Like, people legit come through with .99 cent purchases and pay with debit, it's insane.

[Steven]

LOL Thank God I didn't open an account with them 2 weeks ago.

[bumnummies]

Don't you Canadians get free healthcare?

We pay for it in our taxes. And even then, we still have to pay out of pocket to see dermatologists, podiatrists, optometrists, dentists and chiropractors. And cosmetic surgeons, of course (except in some instances). And we still pay for our prescriptions out of pocket (although Seniors are subsidized). We only call it "Free" health care because we don't have to open our pocket books every time we go to emerg or see a doctor. We never have to worry about being able to afford to go to the doctor when we're sick (or whether or not our insurance will cover us) - we just go. And no one is denied "free" healthcare due to preexisting conditions. But I'll stop there.

YES! I also work at a grocery store and when our debit machines go down even for ten minutes the lineups just get longer and longer because NOBODY has cash. Like, people legit come through with .99 cent purchases and pay with debit, it's insane.

Yeahh... I've debited 89 cents before for a bottle of water. Still not as bad as one of my coworkers... 20 cents for a small handful of croutons

OMG though when our debit/credit goes down... NIGHTMARE. I've seen some scary lines at our lone ATM

[1201O]

Debit cards were introduced as a benefit for opening an account with a bank. With debit cards, you could bank 24/7, and it allowed banks to cut back on the number of tellers they needed. It was a huge benefit for both the bank and the customer. Now they're going to start charging us for something that is beneficial for the both us?

It's stupid, and its greedy. Analyst have said that the cap the government put in place on the fees banks charge retailers wasn't going to deprive the banks of their profits. They just wouldn't profit as much. However, the banks aren't happy with that, so to make up for it, they are passing the burden onto the consumer.

I have two bank account one with BoA and one with Capital One. Guess which one I'm closing this year?

And LOL at the Canadians on this board. You guys really are something else. You enjoy paying fees for something that's just as beneficial to the banks, as it is to you. I guess it's true what they say about canadians, I could probably hop across the border and get a canadian to give up their house to me in under 10 minutes. Gotta love Canadian hospitality.

This post has been edited by 1201O: Oct 4th 2011, 6:00 PM

[kamil24]

It's true, Canadians never have cash. Just last week I had to use my credit card to buy gloves for my chemistry lab that cost 56 cents

But I'm not charged anything for having a debit and credit card

[bumnummies]

And LOL at the Canadians on this board. You guys really are something else. You enjoy paying fees for something that's just as beneficial to the banks, as it is to you. I guess it's true what they say about canadians, I could probably hop across the border and get a canadian to give up their house to me in under 10 minutes. Gotta love Canadian hospitality.

Oh puleese. No one said we enjoy paying fees. But we do. We have for years. And some of us have sought out other alternative banking methods from traditional banks in an effort to save money (of course, the trade off being reduced services in other areas...).

But your analogy is just ridiculous.