I have my accounts with BoA. I have a BoA cash rewards CC, so it makes no sense to make purchases with my debit card since the debit card doesn't pay me cashback. Since BoA isn't going to be charging for using their debit cards at the ATM, I won't ever have to pay a monthly fee. I'll stick with BoA for the convenience. I never have any trouble finding a branch or ATM when I need one.
Starting Score: TU: 566
I wonder how many people are rushing to close accounts before they know all the facts. This new rule only affects the low-end "free" checking accounts, but I haven't seen a comprehensive list of exactly what types of accounts are involved. My guess is the Essentials, MyAccess, and eBanking, depending on which state you live in, will be affected. If you have a higher-tier account like Enhanced, Advantage, or Premium, I don't think you'll be affected. I personally have an Interest Checking which they haven't offered in like a decade, which I hope won't be affected. If it is, I'll switch to Enhanced which is free if you direct deposit >$2K/mo which I do. I was sort of planning on doing that anyway to get the free money market savings. BofA has managed not to piss me off yet so I'll stick with them unless this affects me, which I don't think it will.
I never use my debit card for purchases anyway except at places that only accept Visa. I have a MC, Disc & AmEx so it mightbe time to add a BofA Visa to the wallet.
I do have a USAA checking but only use it for getting cash on the road where I can't finf a BofA ATM.
@android01 wrote:
How ironic. It'll hit the accounts of the people who can least afford it.
Exactly! Those are the people who always get hurt most. Before the government got involved the merchants passed along the fees to all of their customers equally. Even customers who used cash paid the higher prices. Now everyone can still pay the higher prices. That means those who can least afford it can pay the higher prices, and pay a $5/month surcharge at the same time.
The way the government usually addresses an inequity like that is to enact reforms that are supposed to hurt everyone equally. That is the American way.
Allow me to ponder ways that our government could step in
(not to help those with less money), but to make the sure that
all others are hurt just as much.
With the current debit card state of affairs and the 2012 election approaching we might hear a lot of bellyaching about "the rich" who have at least a few hundred dollars in the bank, not paying their fair share of the fees. Now the government can step in and reform that inequity. The Durbin crowd can mandate that all debit card transactions incur a swipe fee to be paid by the "rich" and "not so rich" alike. To close a loophole before it opens, they will have to mandate that credit unions also charge the fee. All banks would be forced to collect even more billions of dollars. That would have an additional benefit of delaying the next large taxpayer bailout of banks. It would also keep BofA from loosing thousands of customers to the credit unions.
Of course those who use credit cards exclusively will still avoid the fees. Congress can jump in and close that "loophole" by mandating that swipe fees be charged for all credit card transactions. Now that would teach the evil banks a lesson. They would be forced to make billions more. Future taxpayer bailouts of the banks would also be delayed for a while longer.
I started out being facetious but I feel full blown sarcasm starting to gush forth.
Let me ponder what Congress might do to correct the next "unintended consequence" that will inexorably arise. "Rich people" who can afford to walk around with more than $20 cash in their pockets won't use debit or credit ! They will go back to using cash. That will drive the costs up for merchants to handle all of that high volume of cash.
The merchant lobby will insist that their representatives in Congress reform that evil practice of using cash to avoid all swipe fees. The consumer who doesn't have $20 in his pocket will be paying more. The obvious solution ... Yup ......Swipe fees for using cash! The government could collect the swipe fees as a "sin tax" to stop oppressing people with less money. The sin tax, cash swipe fees can pay for more government programs. It would provide jobs (more government workers) to enforce the new mandates.
You might say that cash can't actually be swiped.
Sure it can. The banks and politicians have been swiping our cash for years.
I probably won't close the account but BoA definitely isn't getting $5/Month for debit card use. The USAA card should be here next week and It'll get used for times when I don't want to use credit..
My girlfiend has one of their oddball accounts. Its's on-line only, you can use the ATM but not do transactions in a bank without being accessed fees. She uses the debit card a great deal and will have to change practices. She's sither going to use her credit union or join USAA. USAA has a much better site and bill pay than our credit union, IMO.
