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.