All Together Now: Thank You, Sirs, May We Have Another?

Great news! We're finally starting to see the benefits of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act:

Bank of America plans to start charging customers a $5 monthly debit card fee.

The fee will be rolled out starting early next year.

A Bank of America Corp. spokeswoman says customers will only be charged the fee if they use their debit cards for purchases in any given month. Customers won't be charged if they only use their cards at an ATM.

You can bet your sweet bippy that the other major banks will follow suit.

Thank you, Congress, protect me some more!

Comments

[Rob]

Fair to give Congress some well-deserved blame but the banks, themselves, have been trending toward that fee-based model for some time now. Close off some of their revenue-streams-don't-call-them-ripoffs and this is their natural reaction. The banks have the perfect scapegoat for now but it won't last. Airlines charging for bags are getting eaten alive by those advertising that bags fly free. The banks will have that kind of dynamic, too.

[Dave E.]

I'm no fan of banks generally, but this is a direct result of Congress ordering the Fed to limit swipe fees that merchants have to pay. Great for the merchants, not so great for consumers who want to use their debit card for purchases. Instead of picking losers and winners, Congress should be fostering more competition for that business and let the pricing and cost fall where it may.

Not a lot of campaign contributions in that method though.

[Rob]

Funny you should mention the swipe fees. Three or four local merchants I frequent are now mandating a $5 minimum purchase for debit charges to offset the swipe fees they're being charged.

[Dave E.]

Interesting. From what I've read the average swipe fee has been cut in half and it will take effect on Oct. 1. I wonder if those minimums will stick around after the weekend.

[Marie]

Before they even passed the law, I knew this was going to happen. The most surprising thing about it is that it took the banks so long to do. I use my debit card almost exclusively, and was wondering if I would go back to checks or cash rather than pay $5.00 a month. And I think I would pay the $5.00.

[Dave E.]

The new regulations don't kick in until tomorrow, so that may have been part of the delay, Marie. I use my debit card just like I used to use checks and I'll also pay the $5 to be able to continue that. I think this is just a small beginning to the unintended consequences we'll see from financial "reform", which is really just a massive regulatory regime that doesn't even fix the problem that caused the crisis in the first place.