Punishing Banks For Debit Card Fees

By Jeralyn, Section Economy
Posted on Fri Sep 30, 2011 at 08:59:00 AM EST
Tags: bank fees (all tags)

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Years ago, the banks have with the ideas of debit cards, advertised and marketed them to death, and finally got us all using them. I was perfectly fine writing a check. Now, so few people write checks, most places won't take them. And if we use credit cards, instead of debit cards, we run the risk of buying more than we can afford and getting into debit.

So along comes the big banks with more than $10 million in assets, and since they are being told they can't charge retailers more for the new debit card fees they provide customers, the banks have decided to stick their own customers with the $5.00 fee.

Fortunatley, leaving a bank, even one you've been at 30 years, is easier than leaving a lot of other companies-- like your favorite grocery store, dry cleaner, health club, etc.

So what happens to these banks when new banks pop up who aren't subject to the big boy fees, and start offering us what our banks gave us to get our initial business (perks now long gone for many of us except those with significant amounts of cash to lay dormant in their accounts) -- like free checking accounts, no fees for the bill-pay, no checking fees or fees for electronic banking and free checks with images, etc.?

We'll leave the Big Boys in droves. I sure hope they thought it through and crunched the numbers on how many of us they can afford to lose< [More....]/p>

Next time you are standing in line behind someone writing a paper check, be patient. This could be you next month. I'm never happy about change in my personal life, and much less so about change for the worse. I'll be reading those mail offers much more closely now.

On a related note, what good is 4% interest rates when the tanking economy has driven peopl's credit scored downward over the past two years? Who beside the rich will even qualify for a loan?

Our health insurance premiums are going up again, as everyone said they would after passage of Obma's health care Act. My line in the sand is still Medicare. Now that I'm close, if the politicians mess with raising the age to 67, I'm getting a whole new plan. So I need some help here, what's a goo way to get back at the Big Boy banks, depriving then of my accounts but having the alternative be convenient and cheaper?

Let's have a contest. Put your ideas in comments and I'll award the top two winners a brand new hardcover non-fiction book on politics, terrorism [More...]

Use the rating system for those you like the best (and least if you want, just no "1"s, (1' are reserved for troll commenter,
not a commenter with a bad idea.

The question is: If your bank is going to go the $5 a month charge on top of your other charges, which banks do we move to and what are our demands? If you talk to any banks, ask if the rates would be lower if we brought in a group of 10 new customers.

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Punishing Banks For Debit Card Fees | 51 comments (51 topical)

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The best thing (5.00 / 1) (#2)
by Ga6thDem on Fri Sep 30, 2011 at 06:14:41 AM EST

I can think of is using a credit union. Also if you shop at Target, they have their own debit card and you get 5% off your total when you use it.

Thankfully, I don't really have any of these problems with my bank so all of this is not going to affect me.

not going to affect me. (none / 0) (#41)
by Abdul Abulbul Amir on Fri Sep 30, 2011 at 10:23:40 PM EST

Not yet perhaps. Dodd Frank as noted above has brought many unpleasant surprises with more to come.


You wingers (5.00 / 1) (#42)
by Ga6thDem on Sat Oct 01, 2011 at 06:05:32 AM EST

amaze me at your ability to blame everybody else except the people who are actually making the decisions.


Regulation (none / 0) (#49)
by Abdul Abulbul Amir on Sat Oct 01, 2011 at 08:42:13 PM EST

and price controls raise cost. Period. Why are you apparently surprised at the obvious consequence of the decision to impose greater cost vis regulation?

Hardy har har (none / 0) (#51)
by Ga6thDem on Sun Oct 02, 2011 at 06:51:19 AM EST

Once again it's someone else's fault that they are doing this according to you. As long as they were able to price gouge the retailers and small business people they were happy. Banks that collapsed because of their bad decision have NEVER taken responsibility for that so it's no surprise that wingers continue to make excuses. The problem is unbridled greed in banking.


No, no, no (none / 0) (#52)
by NYShooter on Sun Oct 02, 2011 at 08:58:18 AM EST

"Regulations" are always bad! Not "some," or a "few," but all regulations. Dontcha know, businessmen know best what their employees, customers, and the environment needs.

Are we a free country or what? If an eight year old is mature enough to apply for a job in a coal mine, and is happy to earn 10 cents an hour, and a box of fruit loops, who are we deny him/her the opportunity?


: Regulations are not always bad (none / 0) (#53)
by Abdul Abulbul Amir on Tue Oct 04, 2011 at 12:57:01 PM EST

.
Price controls, however, have a long history of failure and as in this case unpleasant side effects.

There is no magic with price controls. They do for banking what they do everywhere else: create product shortages and spawn regulatory intrigue.
Seen free checking advertised lately?
.

Citizens Bank here (5.00 / 1) (#3)
by smott on Fri Sep 30, 2011 at 06:54:16 AM EST

In Pittsburgh....no fees as of yet. When I use it at the local Giant Eagle grocery I accumulate pennies off future groceries but more important 10c off per gallon gas at the Giant station for every 50$ spent on food....

If I have to go shop at Target or Lowes or wherever, I buy the gift cards at the supermarket, which gives me tons of gas credit, then use the gift cards at Target/Lowes.

Some guys I know who are contracters and use Home Depot/Lowes a lot, are often filling up their trucks for free.

However when Citizens starts hitting me up for debit fees I'll have to do the math and see where the benefit falls, me or the bank. Likely not me.

Funny I used to be cash all the time and now I almost never have any....

What I've wished for... (5.00 / 4) (#4)
by Dr Molly on Fri Sep 30, 2011 at 06:58:49 AM EST

for a long time - is some kind of website ("Honest Businesses"), similar to angie's list but that serves as a clearinghouse for those of us looking to switch all our consumer spending to honest businesses. By that, I mean businesses with no hidden fees, a history of not trying to screw their customers over, a history of good customer service, etc. There would be a list of criteria, and only those businesses sticking to those criteria would be listed.

Some of the criteria would be:

-no history of secretly jacking up interest rates
-no history of trying to sell junk warranties on
the goods you purchase
-no history of denying warranty service
-no exploitive fees

etc.

: Would there be enough... (none / 0) (#5)
by kdog on Fri Sep 30, 2011 at 08:42:39 AM EST

businesses to fill the site? Just kidding, but seriously, especially on the banking end:)
The shady runs deep in so many businesses/industries, shady tentacles in everything. Rough geusstimate, I'd say of all the companies I deal with everyday they run 60/40 in favor of shady, maybe 65/35. Legit markets only, factoring in black markets I deal with the shady rate would drop.

: Bankrate.com (none / 0) (#27)
by gyrfalcon on Fri Sep 30, 2011 at 01:14:14 PM EST

: Also credit unions (none / 0) (#28)
by gyrfalcon on Fri Sep 30, 2011 at 01:15:53 PM EST

which are covered on Bankrate.com, don't pull the tricks you list above.
As said above, credit unions are absolutely the place to go, and many if not most of them now have very wide rules for membership-- such as being a resident of the country they're located in, etc.

I get free checking (5.00 / 4) (#8)
by mjames on Fri Sep 30, 2011 at 09:01:41 AM EST

and free checks and free bank statements, with images of my checks, because I'm over 65. I think any big bank will do that - or tell them you're moving your money. That's what I did. I could also get online banking (which I don't trust and don't use) for free. Just go in and demand it. You could also switch to a credit union that doesn't have those fees.

As for Medicare, don't get your hopes up for much there. I got rid of Plan B and the supplemental plan after only a few months. Too much money and they didn't cover anything I need and one doctor jacked up his price by $300 when he knew I had Medicare. I got rid of him too.

I pay as I go, out of pocket, as I have for 30 years, since I've been out on my own as a solo practitioner. My main costs are alternative medicine, which is not covered by Medicare, and dental, which is also not covered and is incredibly expensive, especially as I age. Rather than pay $300/month (out of my Social Security check) that covers nothing I use (or very little), I save that money for my annual physical and lab work and my dental bills.

Some day I will be my own death panel. I'm OK with that. I simply cannot deal with insurance companies, even the government one. They all make me sick and angry - and then I have to pay for medicine for my high blood pressure.

I exercise, exercise, and then exercise some more. I eat organic and not too much. I have once-a-year battery of lab tests, particularly cholesterol and thyroid (for women especially). If I get the big C or something else really bad, I'll seek alternative remedies and, ultimately, I'll die. Death is simply a part of life. Energy doesn't die; it simply changes form.

That's my plan and I'm sticking to it.

I forgot to add (none / 0) (#12)
by mjames on Fri Sep 30, 2011 at 09:33:48 AM EST

I use my debit card as a credit card. That way there are no fees.


: And (none / 0) (#18)
by CoralGables on Fri Sep 30, 2011 at 09:56:02 AM EST

most credit cards have a slight kickback. Mine is 1% with a 5% kickback at times on certain products which I get back as cash. I've never used a debit card, pay no annual fee, and pay it off online (no stamp) in its entirety each month so there's never an interest charge. Everything (and I mean everything) goes on the credit card.
Being a full time cheapskate allows oneself to keep their own money making every shopping excursion a game rather than a chore.

: I always do too (none / 0) (#25)
by jbindc on Fri Sep 30, 2011 at 10:38:09 AM EST

Never use it as a debit because then you get hit with fees already. (Mine's BoA). Is that process going to be affected as well - or will it be for straight debit transactions?

: Sorry to say it but people who use (none / 0) (#48)
by inclusiveheart on Sat Oct 01, 2011 at 06:41:53 PM EST

debit cards over credit cards are cruising for a bruising at some point down the road. There are no laws that protect your bank account from being totally cleaned out - the banks only afford those protections out of a desire to draw you to the debit card use. Unlike credit card companies who have to assume the burden of a stolen card except for your $50 fee if your card is lost or stolen, the banks do not have to give your money back if your debit card is stolen.
My father wrote the law that says that your liability for a lost or stolen card with a debit card is a flat fee of $50. About 20 years later, we learned everything there is to know about debit card and electronic banking - and it wasn't pretty. Hundreds of thousands of dollars were stolen from my aging grandfather and the banks said, "Tough. We aren't liable." Fondly enough, all of the credit card companies who were also defrauded in the process charged their $50 fees and went after the thief.
$50 vs. everything you have in the bank? Hmm? I'd take the $50.

Another irony... (5.00 / 3) (#13)
by Mr Natural on Fri Sep 30, 2011 at 09:40:51 AM EST

Forcing a move to cash will really put a crimp in the surveillance state.

: good one (none / 0) (#15)
by Jeralyn on Fri Sep 30, 2011 at 09:46:22 AM EST

And when the Government seeks to forfeit cash, maybe it will heighten the credibility of those who say they the money was legitimate, they just keep it in a mattress because they don't like banks.

: Cash is my preference (none / 0) (#24)
by waldenpond on Fri Sep 30, 2011 at 10:21:20 AM EST

But it isn't a way to avoid fees.
It used to be you could take a check to the bank it was drafted on and cash it. Now the bank charges a fee.
It used to be you could take your check to a local store and cash it... worst case they would want you to spend a few bucks in their store... but now, many companies mandate automatic deposit.. so do aid programs, SS etc (or a fee card).
I use cash the majority of the time and I rarely come across a store that won't take a check (which I don't prefer to use as I don't like having my purchases tracked) but we haven't found an account that is just satisfied with having our money to make profits off of. They all have an additional ding.

: Cash is my alternative (none / 0) (#34)
by Coral on Fri Sep 30, 2011 at 01:56:07 PM EST

I get cash at the bank. Last Xmas I did that for holiday shopping instead of the credit card. Really helped me keep to a budget.
Now I've recently started doing that for groceries and going out for meals.
For record-keeping, business-related expenses go on the credit card, paid in full every month.

ATM (5.00 / 3) (#14)
by mmc9431 on Fri Sep 30, 2011 at 09:43:25 AM EST

The whole concept of the ATM was to be a cost saving measure for the banks. They were able to cut payroll (and the benefit packages that went with them. It really had nothing to do with the consumer. When was the last time you went into your bank and saw more than two windows open?

As a business, when I swipe your card your account is charged. I pay a percentage and a transaction fee. At your end the money is taken out of your account imediately.

However, the money doesn't come to my account for 3 or 4 days. That gives the banks a very nice float if you multiply every transaction done!

: Buncha angle shooters... (none / 0) (#19)
by kdog on Fri Sep 30, 2011 at 09:58:57 AM EST

the depths know no bounds...more floats than boats them lot.
I hear about more merchants refusing to take plastic...imagine how many more merchants could and would if so many consumers weren't living on the arm in broked*ck nation...can't sell to a customer in the red unless they got credit.
I know its not practical for normal people to get out of bed with banksters like how I roll...but if current trends continue we better find a way to make it practical. They fixin' to bleed you all dry!

Punishing the bank (5.00 / 4) (#26)
by kdm251 on Fri Sep 30, 2011 at 11:20:26 AM EST

How about using your debit card to make a contribution to elizabeth Warren

: ROTFLMAO! (none / 0) (#31)
by gyrfalcon on Fri Sep 30, 2011 at 01:24:44 PM EST

There is one big problem, (5.00 / 1) (#37)
by NYShooter on Fri Sep 30, 2011 at 08:13:36 PM EST

And one which you never hear about.

If, lets say a senior, lost his job, and, therefore, fell behind in payments, then his credit score inevitably drops substantially. Guess what? No bank, and, I`m sorry to say, no Credit Union, will open a checking account for him. And, I'm talking about a plain, vanilla checking account, with no overcharge privileges, or any other bells and whistles.

They won't even open a checking account for him, dedicated strictly for social security direct deposits.

If any of you can prove me wrong, I'd love to hear about it.

Mine is going to the fee. Tomorrow starts a new (5.00 / 1) (#38)
by ruffian on Fri Sep 30, 2011 at 08:18:47 PM EST

month, so I am kissing the debit card goodbye. Got enough cash at the ATM, and I need to put the checkbook back in my wallet.

I hate to feel like I am going backwards in technology, but as some news reports have pointed out there are many retailers using their own cards. Also I can get gift cards for 5% off at my local discount warehouse. I'll stop in there over the weekend and see what is available that way.

Seems like a lot of work to avoid a $4 per month fee, but I resent that they got me to totally change my habits and then started charging me. Not cool.

Also, about the 4% mortgage int rate.... (5.00 / 1) (#39)
by ruffian on Fri Sep 30, 2011 at 08:28:23 PM EST

It does no good in the parts of the country where property values have decreased so much that up to half the mortgages are underwater. Even if you have perfect credit you cannot refinance under those circumstances.

People that were able to refinance have already done so.

Nothing is going to bring back housing based consumer spending and confidence until the underwater market is addressed. I know the powers that be don't want to face up to that fact, but there it is.

Since the sick Big Boy banks are supposed to (none / 0) (#6)
by Militarytracy on Fri Sep 30, 2011 at 08:48:10 AM EST

earn their way back to health on our backs, something tells me that it is likely very difficult to get start up approval for a NEW bank right now. The Big Boys kept Walmart from starting a bank for several years in order to avoid the competition they would get from them. Eventually Walmart ended up having to buy an already existing bank and expanding it.

Last year, my wife's small bank... (5.00 / 2) (#21)
by Dadler on Fri Sep 30, 2011 at 10:03:50 AM EST

...that wasn't involved in mortgages, that merely had a few clients go belly up, leaving the bank with a few bad loans. They were told they needed to raise 22 million fast or they'd be shut. They raised 18 million in two weeks, needed a few days to get the other 4 million, asked the regulators for a brief extension, but the regulators said nope, you're finished, and the bank was sold off to big, hungry CityNational out of L.A. So, instead of allowing her bank to raise that 4 million, they instead spent 87.7 million taxpayer dollars to let CityNational have it. The whole thing stunk, and I could only conclude somebody's pockets were greased and CityNational got their present.

Still burns me.

Now, however, my wife works for a newer bank here in SF, that is focusing on green and sustainable investment projects. New Resource Bank. (LINK) Anyone in SF, check them out and give them biz.


I don't get why the left loves Sheila Bair (none / 0) (#44)
by jpe on Sat Oct 01, 2011 at 12:09:02 PM EST

so much. She's been forcing small banks to write down capital, thereby forcing them to be bought out by larger banks.


: You know "the left" isn't a monolith? (none / 0) (#47)
by sj on Sat Oct 01, 2011 at 05:57:31 PM EST

Right?

Oddly enough... (none / 0) (#7)
by kdog on Fri Sep 30, 2011 at 08:52:19 AM EST

I've been getting these loan offers in the mail lately..."cash today", "pre-approved", etc. I've never borrowed dime one from an institution (only individual humans), don't have a credit card except a prepaid, no checking account, and my most valuable asset is a Toyota on it's last dying legs.

And they wanna loan me money? F*ckin' weird. I've never cared to check my credit score (not how I keep score), I've had utilities in my name and always paid...maybe thats why they're after me. I've always gotten credit card offers in the mail, but never loan offers. They aren't from banks but some other kinds of financial grifters. I just laugh and throw them out.

Me too (none / 0) (#16)
by Militarytracy on Fri Sep 30, 2011 at 09:49:14 AM EST

The mailbox is STUFFED with them. It is starting to pi$$ me off. I can't even start a fire in the fireplace with them this winter because of all the ink....jamming up my mailbox and jamming up landfills. Just leave me alone damn it. Truly, if I'm looking for money I'll call you okay?

God knows if you do get a loan, you can't get anyone on the phone to talk to you if you have some sort of crisis in the midst of some month and need to make arrangements. Simple interest isn't cutting it these days, they live to rape for fees. It is all scam, they are all praying something horrible will happen to you and then they can pick your middle class carcass clean right to the bone.


You will love this though kdog (5.00 / 2) (#17)
by Militarytracy on Fri Sep 30, 2011 at 09:55:34 AM EST

MERS would not tell me who owned our mortgage. Their final letter to me said something about the mortgage holder not desiring to have their information shared or some such $hit. I had come to the point where I was going to have to have an attorney involved and I decided at this time to let it slide.

In the junk mail a few weeks back was an envelope that looked like it was from the VA. It was designed that way on purpose so I would open it, which I did. It was an offer to refinance our VA Wells Fargo home loan. I guess I found out who has our mortgage from the phucking junk mail. Wells Fargo won't tell me that they bought my mortgage but they'll sell that information to someone else. Phucking a$$holes!!!!!


: If your title holder... (5.00 / 1) (#22)
by kdog on Fri Sep 30, 2011 at 10:03:55 AM EST

is confidential, you should be too! Wanna tango b*tches, try to collect from a confidential debtor you mofos!
My moms is getting them too, they do make them look real official sometimes instead of a cold-call on another rube...my mom showed me one and asked me to try to figure it out, she was almost convinced it had to do with her real mortgage.
On the brightside, the post office needs the junk mail business...keep my bro and my softball breathren employed.

You probably have no credit (none / 0) (#29)
by gyrfalcon on Fri Sep 30, 2011 at 01:19:59 PM EST

record at all. They're based on -- ta da! -- credit, ie borrowing. Credit cards, bank loans, car loans, stuff like that. If you've never had any of those, you have no credit, basically.

A word of warning. The older you get without a credit record, the less likely you are ever to be able to get a loan of any kind for any purpose.


: If I ever need grifter money... (none / 0) (#33)
by kdog on Fri Sep 30, 2011 at 01:39:19 PM EST

I've already lost in the game of life...Thanks but I'm straight G, I'm already a part of enough problems, my conscience can't stands no more! :)

Currently my bank will (none / 0) (#10)
by MO Blue on Fri Sep 30, 2011 at 09:22:35 AM EST

not be charging for debit card use. That is a good thing since I would prefer not to change banks.

If it comes to the point that this becomes SOP for all banks and credit unions, I will go a modified kdog route and use cash whenever possible or checks when cash is not a good option.

Credit unions (5.00 / 1) (#30)
by gyrfalcon on Fri Sep 30, 2011 at 01:22:39 PM EST

are extremely unlikely ever to do such a thing. They're content with running a banking system the old-fashioned way.


: And member owned (none / 0) (#32)
by jbindc on Fri Sep 30, 2011 at 01:26:07 PM EST

Yes? I don't thin the members would vote for practices like we see happening across the Wall Street types of big banks now.

Walmart (none / 0) (#11)
by jimakaPPJ on Fri Sep 30, 2011 at 09:27:56 AM EST

now offers a gas card that you can buy and when you use it you save 10 cents per gallon. Same for their own Visa and Gift card.

My guess is they want you to give them money up front for them to use... and at some point they will end the deal and keep a bunch of folks on the credit card.

Funny, use to be they would be around 5-7 cents cheaper than anyone else. Now they maybe a penny or in some cases, higher.

The Mechanics Bank - Hercules, CA (none / 0) (#20)
by talesoftwokitties on Fri Sep 30, 2011 at 10:00:52 AM EST

The Mechanics Bank I've been a customer since 1994 - Local bank, convenient branches and best of all - ATM rebates!

OT, Jeralyn, but Anwar Al-Awlaki... (none / 0) (#23)
by Dadler on Fri Sep 30, 2011 at 10:12:19 AM EST

...was killed in Yemen. (LINK)

Credit Union! Denver Community FCU? (none / 0) (#35)
by shoephone on Fri Sep 30, 2011 at 05:17:41 PM EST

There are lots in your area, two on Colfax. I don't know much about it, but I believe it is affiliated with BECU (Boeing Employees Credit Union) and anyone can join. They are one of the very best. I happen to be with a different credit union -- 14 years and counting -- and I would never go back to a bank. There is virtually nothing the bank offers that the credit unions don't, and they do it better, at less or no cost to you.

The economy is terrible these days for all deposit rates, but my interest rates on CD's and money market are still better than any corporate bank will offer. And when I've needed to take out a business or car loan, the rates are MUCH lower. Two years ago, my credit union began offering low-cost home loans. And just this week they started offering interest-bearing checking accounts, for which there are a few very reasonable requirements. I have checking and savings accounts, I can do online banking or mail/paper banking, I can access my cash through any "shared branching" ATM (like BECU, which is located everywhere) -- ALL AT NO COST TO ME. Furthermore, my VISA credit card is through my CU, at a low, fixed-rate, no fees.

Really, Jeralyn, check out the credit unions in your area. I have been quite happy with mine. The last time I dealt with the dreaded BofA was four years ago when I rolled over a SEP account through them into a Schwab account, and it was a months-long process, all because BofA screwed up twice in a row, and then they punished me with a closing fee. Get away from the banks while you still can.

Like others, I take out a certain amount of cash each week for my usual purchases (food, gas, drug store) which really helps with budgeting! I only use my credit card for big or unforseen purchases, and I pay it off in full at the end of every month, no matter how much it hurts. So, I haven't incurred a dime of credit card interest/fees in over seven years.

: Credit Unions YAY! (none / 0) (#36)
by NMvoiceofreason on Fri Sep 30, 2011 at 06:03:41 PM EST

Ever since "A Wonderful Life", credit unions have been showing banks the way it should be done.
When the crash came in 2008, we moved all of our banking business to our credit union. We use their ATM's, pay no strange fees, and have nice people who want to help us every time we go in.
win/win.

money loser (none / 0) (#40)
by diogenes on Fri Sep 30, 2011 at 09:45:07 PM EST

I hate to say it, but banks lose a lot of money giving away free debit card use or free checking. When they can get savings account depositors to put money in CD's for 0.5%, why should they eat all that money just to have my lousy $1000 in a checking account at 0%?
The big banks would be thrilled to be boycotted by small checking account customers.

Then they should get out of the business (5.00 / 1) (#43)
by jbindc on Sat Oct 01, 2011 at 10:21:02 AM EST

When they are charging both ends of the transaction - the merchant AND the consumer - for swipe fees, then they need to rethink their business model. Don't forget, this is the same industry that, in many places, charges you to a)patronize a brick and mortar building and talk to a live person, and b) use your own money if it isn't on a convenient schedule for the bank.

Most people would be more sympathetic and not as outraged about a $5 monthly fee if the CEO's and top execs of these banks, which took taxpayer money in bailouts, then refused to turn around and help those same taxpayers out, and then gave themselves big bonuses. At least the auto companies paid the government back, with interest, and actually created jobs.


you can have it (none / 0) (#45)
by diogenes on Sat Oct 01, 2011 at 03:30:25 PM EST

If free checking accounts are such moneymakers, then I'm sure someone will start the "FREE, NO FEE BANK" and rake in large amounts of market share nationwide. Isn't that what capitalism is all about?


Guessing no sympathy for complaint (none / 0) (#46)
by oculus on Sat Oct 01, 2011 at 03:44:43 PM EST

credit card companies in U.S. shouldn't charge foreign transaction fees, based on percentage of charge, for charges made outside U.S. Now credit union, which charges 0 for ATM transactions inside U.S. is now charged for withdrawals via ATMs outside U.S. When I asked VISA rep. why they raised the charge for overseas transactions, his response was basically, because we can.


: as noted above... (none / 0) (#50)
by diogenes on Sat Oct 01, 2011 at 09:51:23 PM EST

Warren Buffett can invest in "Honest Warren's Bank" with none of these nasty charges; presumably he'll get everyone's business and rake in billions.