Bank Of America Officially Ditches $5 Debit Card Fee, Avoids Pulling A Netflix

NYPD officers stand watch in Times Square during protests on October 18 (AP)

It appears that yesterday's rumors are true: Bank of America is dropping their plans for a $5 monthly debit card fee. A spokesperson for BOA declined to tell the AP whether or not the fee's announcement caused an increase in account closures or flaming bags of dog poop found inside BOA ATM vestibules. The flack noted that the decision to scrap the fee was based on a "changing competitive marketplace," and said, "Over the past couple of weeks, customer sentiment changed."

We're pretty sure that customers have always been against fees, but they're probably happy to take credit for preventing BOA from pulling a Netflix. However, BOA CEO Brian Moynihan said after the controversial plan was criticized, "I have an inherent duty as a CEO of a publicly owned company to get a return for my shareholders" and therefore the company has a "right to make a profit."

While Chase has decided—after 8 months of research—that it won't charge debit card fees, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon once said, "If you’re a restaurant and you can’t charge for the soda, you’re going to charge more for the burger." So look for them to start charging for those Dum-Dum lollipops that sit in the lobby. Or maybe they'll be able to squeeze more out of us at ATMs, where they already make as much as $3.00 on transactions that cost 20 cents. Failing that they can rely on their old standard: charging people for being poor.

Molly Katchpole, the 22-year-old who started a petition on Change.org to let BoA know their $5 fee was a terrible idea, said, "I knew that if enough people expressed their outrage to Bank of America, they would have to listen to their customers and reverse their debit fee plan. The American people bailed out Bank of America during a financial crisis the banks helped create. Bank of America paid zero dollars in federal income tax last year and thought they could squeeze more from the American people. The success off this campaign proves that ordinary people can successfully stand up to even the largest corporations."

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Christopher Robbins in News on November 1, 2011 1:00 PM

Comments [rss]

remyngtin

chimp city

izzy isou

Eight months of market research?

GregJG

and the world turns....

xXxMExXx

You would have to be a fool to think the banks are going to absorb the increased fees the government is imposing on them instead of passing them onto their customers.

richie410

uhhh, no one is arguing that. it's apparent that most businesses act in this fashion. doesn't make it right.

Guest

Thanks Karl Marx.

chee1rs

guess the CD and savings account's interest will stay the same then ????

idiots

Kittyliteral

Louie CK is hot. Is that wrong?

Mordicai

Isn't November "ditch your bank & get a credit union" month? Hey, what a great idea, because the hell with those guys.

DeanCutlet

"...avoid pulling a Netflix." What a wonderful title!

Fjck y fjckers

I the meantime, this little scandal motivated me to ditch my debit card and start using a BoA cash back credit card for my transactions. I realized it was better to get some sort of return for my daily consumerisms as opposed to nothing. Thanks guys!

twocee

Banks all tried these things before, back in the late 80s and 90s. It didn't work then, and it won't work now.

I think banks were counting on people being too tied to their current
accounts with things like automatic bill pay (it IS a pain in the ass to
change accounts) to make the switch over a $5 fee. They are learning
differently.

SeasTooFarToReach

Now they'll probably increase account fees, just like Citibank is about to do. Keep 15K or get charged $15 a month for the privilege of banking with them. Because all people want is to keep that amount of money to earn a 0.10% APY, right?

I think Chase already has these convoluted limits for fees. I wonder how many people already ditched those banks. Will they ever make that information public?

Personally, I'm switching banks. So long, Citibank!

michelalano

"I have an inherent duty as a CEO of a publicly owned company to get a
return for my shareholders" and therefore the company has a "right to
make a profit."

This is really troubling. He's basically saying that pleasing shareholders by making a profit (i.e. extorting money from existing loyal customers) is more important than keeping or making new loyal customers. The shareholders get on the phone or the internet and buy or sell shares and end up making money while the people who hold the accounts--the people for which the bank exists as a service--get screwed.

Wouldn't it make more sense to beef up your customer service, cut some fees, get people to like you as a company and WANT to join your bank and watch the money come in as honest revenue? Nah...

While it's nice that they're nixing the fee, it's probably less to do with actual customer complaining and more to do with the risk of a drop in stock for the company, which as he said above is their priority.

Guest

It's his legal, fiduciary obligation to maximize shareholder returns. That's how corporations work. ???

ItchyGomez

Why could they not skim a little of the executive pay to cover these costs instead of passing them on to customers?

Is it a given that every company must make money every single year?