Bank of America Rolling Out Monthly Debit Card Charge

According to the Associated Press (link below), Bank of America is planning on rolling out a monthly $5 debit card fee early next year.

Here is how it will work - if you are a Bank of America customer and use your debit card for at least one purchase during a given month, then you will be charged the $5 monthly fee. People who strictly use their cards at ATM machines will not be charged the fee.

A couple of other banks, including Wells Fargo and Chase, have been testing similar debit card usage fees in select markets. In both cases, the monthly fee was $3.

Bank of America is the first major bank to do a full rollout of the monthly debit card charge.

As you can probably imagine, the initial reaction to this new charge from Bank of America has been decidedly negative. Let's look at what people on Twitter are saying:

amaditalks - "I'm still trying to figure out why anyone is still banking with Chase or Bank of America after what they've done to our economy."

mshoni - "They are about to get PAID! I'm going back to checks.."

OriginalBea - "$5 monthly fee to use debit card? Are you closing your Bank of America account? Let's send a message to Wall St."

machikoyasuda - "Charging fees for making purchases with money you actually have in the bank, rather than owe. Seriously, Bank of America?"

nikkiconforti - "Looks like I'll be switching banks!"

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Other major banks will surely be monitoring the level of outrage that is directed towards Bank of America before they decide if they will implement a similar fee of their own.

Bank of America shares are currently trading at $6.22, up a little over 1% on the day.

Source: Finance.yahoo.com - Bank of America to charge $5 debit card fee

Filed under: General Knowledge