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Bank of America to charge monthly fee to debit card users

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Re: Bank of America to charge monthly fee to debit card users

#81

Post by jm4 »

ambiate wrote: post #22
natesm wrote: post #17

Well, I'm switching (I don't have a credit card). What is a good alternative? I know everyone loves USAA, but none of my family has any relation to the military. BoA is "great" because it is everywhere , is there actually anything as wide spread in the (northeast) US?

My coworker just got back from an internship at USAA. She mentioned you no longer need to be related to a service member to open a checking account. Hands down, they are an amazing bank. I've had Paypal issues which they reversed within 2 days. No ATM charges and monthly refunds for any charges. Monthly interest refund. Great services overall by the people and the web. I believe you can also take out a credit card. I…

Is that in writing anywhere? The USAA website suggests otherwise.

https://www.usaa.com/inet/pages/pub_eligibility_task_entry

Who is eligible?

Active, retired and honorably separated officers and enlisted personnel of the U.S. military.

Officer candidates in commissioning programs (Academy, ROTC, OCS/OTS).

Adult children whose eligible parents have or had a USAA auto or property insurance product.

Widows and widowers of USAA members who have or had a USAA auto or property insurance policy.

There are other ways to get in, but it is still via (sometimes indirectly) the military. Occasionally they open it up to employees of various government agencies. You can also get in if your spouse is a member. My wife was previously married to a member of the military and got in that way. I got in when she married me.

USAA is awesome. If I didn't have them I'd probably look into BankSimple.

Re: Bank of America to charge monthly fee to debit card users

#82

Post by georgieporgie »

natesm wrote: post #17

Well, I'm switching (I don't have a credit card). What is a good alternative? I know everyone loves USAA, but none of my family has any relation to the military. BoA is "great" because it is everywhere , is there actually anything as wide spread in the (northeast) US?

Schwab is awesome. If you're so inclined, it's easy to do (reasonably priced) stock trades. As far as pure checking goes, they've got everything you would expect, but get this: no ATM fees. At all. Any fee charged by any ATM will be refunded to you at the end of the month. Plus, they do it internationally, too! If I recall correctly, they have effectively zero currency conversion fee, as well.

Capital One also has some decent accounts if you need somewhere to keep cash savings with ATM and check access.

Re: Bank of America to charge monthly fee to debit card users

#83

Post by kgermino »

baddox wrote: post #69
illumin8 wrote: post #66

What is truly ridiculous is that banks get a 3% merchant fee for every credit or debit transaction charged to their card. So, essentially, they are charging their customers for the very privilege of making money... And we wonder why the banks are failing... this is why! You don't charge your customers for the privilege of making money! I told my bank that I flat out refuse to use my debit card unless THEY PAY ME at l…

Is that true for debit transactions? I always thought that credit card purchases cost the retailer money, which went to the credit company and/or rewards programs and/or banks, but that debit transactions cost the retailer nothing but cost the bank.

Debit transactions do cost the merchants, just not nearly as much. I think it's on the order of a transaction fee + .5% for debit vs transaction fee +3-4% for credit.

Re: Bank of America to charge monthly fee to debit card users

#84

Post by mattezell »

rednaught wrote: post #2

They are not alone. I got word from one of my banks, Regions, that they too are implementing a similar charge. Bank Simple...we're ready for you now.

I got the same notice. I will be using my regions account to draft checks to pay off my highest rewarding credit card now.

Re: Bank of America to charge monthly fee to debit card users

#85

Post by FraaJad »

pyre wrote: post #47
fungi wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

have relatives at another evil bank in another western country. the way they tell it is that the bank really doesn't want the less fortunate out there as customers. if they could figure out a way to drop them without the public backlash they would.

Maybe the poor should start pooling their own money. For example, I heard about some system where a group of people all pay into a pot once per month, and they rotate through who gets the pot. It basically becomes a forced way of savings because there is peer pressure not to come up short. Though I guess this isn't fully a replacement for a bank, but I guess it could help people save up to a level that they don't hav…

It is called a Chit fund: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chit_fund

It is so popular in South India that it is now a regulated financial industry. There are quasi-government bodies that operate chit funds.

Re: Bank of America to charge monthly fee to debit card users

#86

Post by jamiequint »

illumin8 wrote: post #66

What is truly ridiculous is that banks get a 3% merchant fee for every credit or debit transaction charged to their card. So, essentially, they are charging their customers for the very privilege of making money... And we wonder why the banks are failing... this is why! You don't charge your customers for the privilege of making money! I told my bank that I flat out refuse to use my debit card unless THEY PAY ME at l…

No, they don't. The reason this is happening, as mentioned in the article, is that the government recently capped interchange fees to 21 cents per transaction plus 5 basis points on the amount of the transaction. They are charging a fee now to make up for the lost revenue of these lowered interchange fees.

Re: Bank of America to charge monthly fee to debit card users

#87

Post by blhack »

quintinsykes wrote: post #80
blhack wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>it drives Americans to use more credit. Oh it does not. $5/mo is just a way for BoA to disincentive people from using their debit card. It means more transactions get pushed through VISA network, more fees for visa, and probably a kickback for BoA. My check card can also be processed as credit, and it usually is. This isn't because I'm buying things on credit, it's just that that's how it is being processed. The mon…

The bank likely won't care if you use your card with a PIN ("PIN debit") or with a signature ("Signature debit"), which you refer to as "processed as credit". Either way, they still know it's your debit card that was used even though PIN and Signature debit transactions arrive at the bank through separate networks, so you'll probably get hosed with the fee unless you're in one of their "premium" accounts. Community b…

I disagree.

The fee structure for "credit" purchases is different than that for "debit" purchases. It's in the interest of VISA to have me run the transaction as "credit". Would it surprise you if there was cooperation between BoA and VISA (or any other CC provider) to encourage the use of this? The $5/mo charge just encourages it even further.

Re: Bank of America to charge monthly fee to debit card users

#88

Post by electromagnetic »

pyre wrote: post #45
bilbo0s wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is actually something more fundamentally troubling about this new fee ... it drives Americans to use more credit. It was pointed out to me recently that this tendency towards credit that is really 'built-in' to the rules in our society, would probably end up doing us in one day. Sometimes you don't even think about it. I recall once, shortly after the onset of the financial unpleasantness that began in 2008, I…

One difference between debit and credit is when they do things like authorize payments, but then never actually capture them. When it comes to debit cards, some banks will pull that money out of your account, and not release it until may be 10 days after the authorize expires. On the other hand, these things can happen instantly (or within a day) on a credit card. Some people are rather annoyed when they do something…

I know the standard when I've stayed at hotels that do accept cash (AKA Debit) they wan't $100 or more as collateral, I assume to avoid the whole problem you just described.

However, what I didn't know, which I soon realised was that the hotels pre-authorization hits like $500 on a room I pay $50 for a night. I found this out when I'd just moved country, had zero-credit, had a single $1000 visa card and was planning on putting a weekend away with my wife on credit so I'd have two pay checks in before I had to fork out the cash.

The worst was when we booked a campsite out of season. It cost us $14 a night and they required booking by credit card. They had $500 pre-authorized for over two weeks until we'd stayed, and I paid them cash. It's absolutely absurd.

Thankfully since the hotel incident we've always kept a burner credit card for things like this. I don't get the logic behind extending someone credit and then allowing it to be held-up in pre-authorization that will never get processed for the full amount when the credit could be spent at a restaurant or something.

Re: Bank of America to charge monthly fee to debit card users

#89

Post by InclinedPlane »

I've had accounts at Bank of America for the better part of a decade, due to my employer they have been completely free. Just recently BofA sent me a letter detailing all the new monthly charges for my accounts, to the tune of an effective annual fee of $372. The irony is that I never use those accounts anymore, having switched to a vastly superior local credit union about a year and a half ago. Despite having pumped six figures in deposits through them more than once over the course of having them as a bank BofA never treated me any better than if I were some junkie or drug dealer, it was a breath of fresh air to move to a bank that didn't treat me as if I were nothing more than a cow to be milked for fees.

Re: Bank of America to charge monthly fee to debit card users

#90

Post by Yevgeny »

Banking has now officially become synonymous with desperation and lack of creativity. What was once saved for accountants in the backroom has splurged into the face of consumers. Once the "idea well" of ingenious ways to earn an extra-buck or two dries out big banks look to corporate tax-breaks. But what happens when supplementary hidden fees and costs just don't cut it? Apparently, this. Interestingly enough, BOA announced these plans with the concurrent release of "_% cash back on all debit card purchases"...coincidence?
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