Hey "common sense DUDE". Some of us do have a job and you missed the entire article and post. Most of us our sick and tired of the Banks charging nominal fees for something as stupid as using your debit card for a purchase. If you want to be nickeled and dim-ed to death on everything. GOOD FOR YOU! but some of us don't. Especially by those banks that pay their CEOs millions of dollars for failure.

To the banks: GOOD its about time you listened to your customers. Now, why don't you get rid of those ATM fees. Why do I have to PAY you money to GET My money. Crooks.

For a guy with "common sense", you sure do miss points easily. lol

It's not that I CAN"T pay the fee, its that the bank is trying to make maximum profits off of me for their own pockets, even though the economy is tough and they took government bailouts. Meanwhile they do nothing to create new jobs with that extra money they get. It all goes into someones new BMW.

Wow, not wanting to pay more of a fee means welfare.. wow, slow-sensedude is more like it.

I'm going to try to nip this in the bud:

Everyone just mark "commonsensdude"'s post as "no value" and move on. Don't respond. That's what he wants, a response. Why give an @!$%# what he wants? Just ignore him.

August you hit the nail on the head. GREED GREED AND MORE GREED! That's why the U.S. is a plutocracy now instead of a democracy. This poor country is governed by the wealthy and the greedy. And unfortunately it is going to always stay that way.

The reason banks are backing down was not clearly stated. Here goes:

Most "debit" cards are actually "dual" cards. They are both debit and credit cards. This is mostly because both go through the same electronic networks, so there is no good reason why you should have two separate systems. Good business sense!

But at first, debit cards didn't fly in the US despite being rapidly adopted in the rest of the works. The banks had had the same problem with early ATM's and nothing they did seemed to convince customers to use them. Now "smart" cards are in rapidly increasing use all over the world but not in the US. Banks are clueless as to what drives customers. But they understand business people completely. They just lowered the fee charged per transaction to a very low level and the merchants promoted the use of debit cards. Magic!

But as long as people were putting everything on the card, who cared if they were using debit cards to pay for incidentals. But then came economic hard times and people stopped using credit cards, especially for large numbers of small purchases. And a lot of bank revenue dried up. Still not understanding anything about customers the banks decided to charge customers for using debit cards. A new fee is born!

But small banks understand the interchange system and simply started using it as a was to lure customers from the big banks. I switched from Wells-Fargo to Synovus. About $2 million total and about $290k a year pipeline funds. But Synovus understands customers better than they understand business people. They pay me $.10 every time I run my debit card as a credit card. They get more than the $.10 in additional fees from the merchant, so they make a little too. But this puts me in the drivers' seat. For my favorite places, I still run debits as debits and give them the benefit of a low fee or pay cash. For others, in a few cases, I offer to pay less by $.50 and run it as a debit (only one has taken me up on it.) I think this will work best with restaurants in the future. For others, it strictly depends on the service. If the service in inattentive, or poor, or downright rude, I just run my debit purchase through the credit side and punish them. Now, for me, the debit card is resolved. I pay no fee and I can use it as a tool to punish businesses for bad pricing or poor service or just simple lack of appreciation of me as a customer. And instead of blaming me, the business will blame the bank. This is going to be fun to watch. I will place my bet on the small banks and the customers!

Hey, CommonSenseTurd - why should a bank get rich off of ME using MY money?!

That money that I'm using - that belongs to ME, not them - therefore they have NO right to impose a fee on it's usage.

Kyle is right. If that has to be explained to him, then there probably isn't hope. Don't bother, and ignore him.

"None of the banks backing down from imposing the fee say it's because of the brouhaha over the announcement by Bank of America"

So banks can hear us... but they still consider themselves far too elitist and important to admit that they do.

And the people have spoken! All should listen to the people..even our freaking do nothing CONGRESS!!!

commonsensedude says:

Try getting a job and making money, Is that greed. (or are you happy accepting your welfare check ea week?)

You clowns make me laugh, Anu one other than yourself who makes $$$$$ is greedy.

Proofread much?

So is the phrase "common sense" equated with "lack of thought" now? It used to refer to something most people took for granted as true in a world where thought is homogeneous and social construction non-existent. Now it seems like something hegemonists use to put down those who don't conform.

I think what this all means is that if there's any "clowning" in this thread, it's on you. Common is as common does, dude.

I agree that it is chump change Grump, but its at least a sign that they were watching BoA carefully and the number of people that closed their accounts because of that announcement. I know they will have many tricks up their sleeve, but at least we know what works.

better yet, why deal with banks at all? check out your local credit unions. much more reasonable.

Tony,

Commonsense seems to have picked up the brand of common sense that the Republican's use. Too bad there is not an antibiotic to fix that for him.

Maybe go old school and use electric shock?

I use a credit union. No fees -- for anything. Never had an error that needed fixing. When some Chinese folks stole money out of my account while I was on vacation and MC froze my card, I walked into a non affiliated credit union in another state and said "what up". In less than 15 minutes, I had $1500 traveling cash and and order in for a new debit card. Would a large bank do that for me. No, I think not, even if it was a branch office somewhere. Just switch to a credit union, one of the military ones if you can get in to it.

To me it seems quite easy to stick it to Bank Of America and within no time I guarantee they will think twice. I saw on the news the other day that BOA wont even know how many customers they have lost until early next year.

Anyway, to hit them where it hurts. Just use your debit card to withdraw cash. I know its a pain but if everybody starts paying cash then not only will BOA miss out on the 5 bucks you wont have to pay because you didn't make a charge with your card, they will also miss out on the fee they would get from the merchants.

I also agree about the credit unions. I am a member of two and never pay any fees. In fact my credit union pays me interest on my checking account. And like grump says credit unions work together, I can use any credit unions ATM in the country and they wont charge my credit union a fee to use it. Also, if I get in a bind and have to use a big banks ATM my credit union puts that fee back into my account at the end of the month. There really is no comparison when it comes to who cares more about their customers.

See, if we can make a bank change it's way's by voting with our dollar, imagine what could happen if everyone took the same approach to things actually being "Made in America."

I think what put me totally against BofA was when its CEO, Moynihan, came out of the gate saying crap like this:

[We have a] right to make a profit.

You mean, like the huge profit from being bailed out by MY tax money? So my bank wants my tax dollars and wants to stick me with a charge? All the while laying off people and closing branches...

I say to Moynihan: go @!$%# yourself.

http://money.cnn.com/2011/10/05/news/economy/bank_of_america_moynihan/index.htm

Anyway, to hit them where it hurts. Just use your debit card to withdraw cash. I know its a pain but if everybody starts paying cash then not only will BOA miss out on the 5 bucks you wont have to pay because you didn't make a charge with your card, they will also miss out on the fee they would get from the merchants

Actually, there is a way to stick it to them more then this. Just start writting paper checks at all those merchants you used your debit card. Not only will they not get the interchange rate collected, they'll have to go through the matter of processing paper checks. Perhaps if enough of their customers respond to the debit card fee by writting dozens of paper checks per month; it will remind them why they wanted people to start using the debit card in the first place.

For my own part, I switched to a community bank. As to their fees, BofA can sit on it.

Aww did Bank Of America have a change of heart. It's a little too late, I already closed my accounts.

"Reuters reported Late Friday that Bank of America is "is likely to allow many customers to avoid the fee by taking measures such as maintaining minimum balances, having paychecks direct deposited or using Bank of America credit cards."

In other words, we'll get that money one way or another.

Bof A is the same bank that caters to ILLEGAL aliens, I'm not talking legal immigrants. If a WASP wanted to acces their account, they'd need 20 minutes of info including SS# but illegal aliens do not have to have this documentation. If a person is here illegally, then what is wrong with a bank that not only caters to them, but actively tries to get their business?

I've noticed that several stores in our city will no longer accept the "Credit" part of the credit/debit card, "Due to very high fees". These banks are so crazy, they invent a convenient way for us to access our money, then they charge so much to use this convenient thing, that they make it obsolete.

I have been with one of the military credit unions my entire adult life. Not only do I not get nickeled and dimed with a bunch of little fees, if I get stuck and need to use a big banks ATM they refund the fee to me at the end of the month. I would recommend that everyone take a very serious look at switching their banking business to a credit union. They are far more customer friendly and have much lower costs to deal with than any bank. Hell, I keep a minimum balance and they even pay me interest on my checking account. How many big banks do that these days. The credit unions are almost all part of a shared system that allows use to use another credit unions ATM with little or no fee involved. I think at most the fee might be $1 with a few of the smaller credit unions. Big credit unions like the military ones have all the services of the big banks. The great thing is that credit unions not only are not trying to maximize profit, they operate at no profit. Any fees they may charge for a service are only to cover their costs in providing that service. There are no shareholders other than the members (that's why account are often referred to as share savings and share checking), so there is no Wall Street investors to keep happy. When you put money in or take money out you are technically buying and selling shares in the credit union. Tell the big banks where to go and take your business to a customer friendly credit union.

can you say Netflix?

The decision was made after eight months of testing

Testing? WTF?!

If you're still reading this thread and have not yet switched to a credit union, I give up.

I ditched BofA for a credit union and get cash back on purchases as well as interest on checking. Trust me, the 20 minutes you spend making the switch is worth the satisfaction you get for the next 20 or 40 or 60 years of your life every time you read a story about how banks are nickel and diming customers.

I'll even hazard a guess that the aggravation you save will increase your life longer than the time it takes you to switch, which is about the best net gainer you could ever hope for.

Here's a thought: dump your major bank - you'll save money and increase your lifespan.

Too late BOA, I am already enjoying benefits of a credit Union and a non greedy local bank...see ya adios

A little background is in order. Debit cards are processed similarly to credit cards, the main difference being the money is withdrawn directly from a credit card account, and (usually) the use of a PIN number. Merchants accepting credit cards and debit cards pay a small fee for each transaction, the amount of that fee is based on a "risk factor" - more secure transactions, like direct swipe and entering a PIN number get a lower rate than high risk transactions, like online purchase where it is difficult to verify the card number and errors and frauds are more likely. Debit card + PIN transactions had the lowest rate.

Laws were in place limiting credit card transaction fees, but not debit card fees, so when banks got greedy they jacked up debit card rates, the merchants complained to their legislators, so limits were applied to debit card transaction fees as well. Some banks, particularly B of A, had a snit and decided to charge their customers fees for debit card use. Bad idea, here's why: Charging customer fees will discourage debit card use, causing customers to use checks and cash more often - but it costs the banks a lot more to process a check than to process a debit card transaction, and it even costs the bank more to distribute cash through ATMs and tellers, and banks don't collect merchant fees on checks or cash! So it is a classic case of "penny wise pound foolish", applying this fee will cause them to LOSE money and will drive away customers.

Obama get a spin. Break up the banks you fool. The banksters get millions and even act against there own stockholders. Read Alan greens spans reply in congress.

" The banks even act against there own stockholders".

It should be illegal for a public company to pay more then 12 or 15x the salary to anyone individual for any reason. AMericas biggest competitors , germany and japan pay just 12x to 15x the wage of average worker there to the top 1% of the earners in there companies.

How can america compete with that? When the top 1% of earners in american corporations earn 300x the salary of the US worker. Its wrong. It should be against the law.

The corupt boards put allow this pay for failure. Say on pay for pension funds.

Write to your congress person.

I'm wondering when will the diehard right-wing corporate sympathizers realize that they've been had. I mean seriously, what's it going to take for them to realize this? If a corporation empties their personal bank account because they are entitled to make a profit, demand their kidney or that their first born to be sold into slavery, will that do it? Corporations are entitled to make a profit, but not by stealing from other people. How can you be so dense not to realize this? If a company is doing poorly, that company has to get rid of its poor management, not sack the employees who have absolutely no say in how their company is run/managed. The shareholders who could do something about it can't do it because they do not know the inner workings of the company whose shares they own. They only know what the management is willing to tell them once per year during the glorious shareholders' meeting. I worked for one of those behemoths and once I figured out how they operate, I made darn sure that I owned zero shares of their stock. Do I need to remind you of Enron, Global Crossing, Tyco and similar disasters? Wall Street analysts have absolutely no idea what goes on inside a large corporation. They base their projections on past results and by running forecast models that have no bearing on the company's bottom line. Large corporations have hundreds of dedicated employees whose sole job is to manage Wall Street's expectations. I actually worked with some of those folks and after learning what they do and how they do it, I don't put two cents into what Wall Street analysts have to say. Make no mistake about it. By the time Wall Street hears bad news, it is way too late and the fat cats have been taken care of. Then the poor shlep with his 401K watches his portfolio melt and wonders what happened. Here is a word of advice. Treat your Wall Street investment like you would treat a dealer in Vegas. In other words, never put everything on a single number and be prepared to walk out without your shirt. The corporate world can only be understood by those who participate in it at the highest level and everyone else is just guessing. My humble 0.02

I fired B of A and I fired Chase. I hired BECU and never looked back. Credit unions are the way to go. Fire your banks. They hate it when you close your accounts and tell them they are fired. Fired my citibank credit card company as well. I hired them to work for me, not the other way around.

Bank of America and others have said new debit-card fees are needed to recoup income

So they are basically saying when they make bad decisions and lose money, stick it to their customers to keep those multimillon dollar bonuses rolling out.

Regardless if they change their mind and not charge a fee for debit card use, they will sneak in some hidden fees somewhere and get the money out of you.

For me, it's much better to change banks than to be stuck with BofA that seems to screw over their customers one way or another.

I do not regret leaving BofA. The best financial move i have made when it comes to banking.

If you really want to take the banking beast down you should put a bullet in it's head... I think the real problem is with the Fed.

HA!! that rhymed

the whole system is structured around fictional money how absurd is that.. genius.. but absurd none the less.

Americans should close their accounts in the mega-banks like Bank of America, and open accounts in small community banks and credit unions in their own communities. The small community banks and credit unions provide much better service for much lower fees, and they reinvest in the local community, providing local loans for businesses, business payrolls and construction.

"Too big to fail"? Well, we'll just see about that.

Credit Unions. End of story. I've never been anything but delighted with the performance of my credit union. But if my CU tried to bilk me, a few phone calls to the VOLUNTEER board of directors and think the problem would get solved.

This is how free markets work. BOA announces a fee increase. The other banks see a competitive advantage and they decide NOT to raise their fees. BOA sees it will lose customers and does not like the bad publicity. BOA will likely reverse itself.

Banking customers have the freedom to seek out the best deal. If you don't like BOA, go to Chase, go to your local bank, go to your credit union. This is called free markets, this is called capitalism. This happens hundreds of millions of times a day when we make purchasing decisions on gasoline, groceries, real estate, cars, clothes, etc.

With freedom of information and a multitude of choices, we can make our own decisions without interference or help from the government. Our friends in Cuba, China, and hundred of other countries don't have the same luxury.

@ Arieus - I don't think that's exactly true. BofA wants the fee to replace the money lost because of the new law lowering the fees they can charge merchants. Not because of poor investments.

I don't like them doing this and I think they shouldn't implement it. On the other hand I suspect if they don't implement this fee, they will likely do something else to make up the loss in revenue. If I don't like their next choice, I can complain and hopefully make them change their minds again or move my account. That's the way it's supposed to work.

I find that people who give themselves names like commonsense usually do so because they are totally unable to convince others that they have any. Anyway, it wasn't that long ago that banks were talking about fees to see a teller. They encouraged everyone to use atm's, and now that they have us using them, they want to charge. Please people, if you have any common sense, withdraw your money from these megabanks now! Join a credit union or bank local. It is the only way to ensure that these banks are never too big to fail again!

It's no surprise these greedy banks start listening when they start losing depositors. They try to stick a fee in for something that most banks give away and people start pulling their money and all of sudden they start listening. TOO LATE, i'm gone.

Indeed they underestimated the power of consumers. ; )

When you really think about it, the banks should be paying you to have a debit card account. If you go back 30 years or so, the average worker used to get a check from his employer, take it to a bank and cash it. They might put some of it in a checking account, maybe a small amount in a savings account, but probably took out a large portion in cash that they would use for the typical everyday consumable type purchases. Things like groceries, gas, and everyday items. People used to do a lot of everyday business using cash. That was money the banks never had access to.

Today, most people have their paychecks direct deposited in the bank and don't keep much cash on hand because you can buy just about anything, including a burger and fries at McDonalds, with your debit card. The debit card is convenient and safe. I'm sure it varies somewhat from person to person, but these days I probably don't make more than about $100-$200 in cash purchases every month. The debit/credit card is just too convenient.

Along with that convenience we get, the banks get to use our money. Every day, and virtually every minute that our money sits in a bank while we aren't using it, they are making profit off of it. A lot of people burn through their paychecks before they get the next one, but while they are doing that, their money spends idle time in the banks as a balance. People think that the debit cards were thought of as a really nice service to offer customers. That is naive thinking. It was all about having virtually all of your money deposited in the banks for longer periods of time.

If you are of median income and spend most of what you make, what in reality happens is about half your money is idle about half the time. So if through the course of a year, you deposited $50,000 in your bank, about $25,000 sat idle for about half a year. Or about $12,000 or so, for a year. So if the bank makes about a 3% or so return on assets, they made at least $300-$400 off of you. Money they would not have had if you took out cash instead. Now that may not sound like all that much, but multiply it by many tens of millions of people and we're talking real money. Now when you consider that even people not working who get Social Security directly deposited, and those on government programs that are increasing using debit cards, all are participating in a system that allows the banks to make money off of your money, there's a lot of money we give to them to use.

What the debit cards have done is taken many billions of dollars of cash out of envelopes in millions of people's underwear drawers, (or similar stash locations), and put it in the banks' hands. And now they want to charge you a fee for allowing that to occur? Banks make enormous amounts of money off of a system that favors debit cards. They didn't create this system to be nice to you, they created it to make money off of you.

There are about 38 billion debit card transactions annually, worth over $1.5 trillion. (on average, about $39/transaction). If just half of these used to be cash transactions, that's $750 billion of your money they got to use, every year. If you use the one half idle time scenario and about 3% gain, that translates to $10-$15 billion in profit each year that they wouldn't have otherwise gotten. And they want us to pay them to allow that to happen? Talk about greedy!

I hate these greedy banks, they lure depositors to their web to get your money then they try to screw yawith new fee's. I will not tolerate this action with my bank. I'll find one that sticks to their contracts. So BofA backs down from debit card fee's so they figure out a way to stick it to ya another way. Too Late i'm gone.

I'm with you, Greg. I've banked with B of A for many years, but the minute I see a charge for debit card I'm going over to the credit union. It's closer to my office anyway.

Skank of America is still getting your money one way or another. They have a team of mathmeticians and lawyers looking for every leagal opportunity to get at your money. The best thing for this country is for EVERYONE to join a local credit union. Banks are for profit, credit unions are owned by the depositors.

I'm going elsewhere anyway...just the threat of trying to make up for their lost profits by charging me more was the straw that broke the camel's back. Moving to a credit union that gives me interest on my accounts. Bye, bye, B of A

It is a lot tougher to change banks than you think. It can take as long as 3 years if you have certain types of relationships, such as conservatorships or trusts. I would count on at least 3 months minimum with you putting a lot of effort into it, and there are a lot of hidden landmines along the way.

1) The big banks don't like you "running off." For any infraction they can come up with, they will put a black mark on your credit record. You will not know it is there and will not be able to remove it. This is the way that works: You close your account and take the current available balance in cash. Nothing wrong there. The account's closed. Whooooops. Wrongo! There is a $5.00 account closure fee that was never disclosed to you. They re-open the account with the bank as the address and assess the fee. They can keep the open account up to 3-5 years depending on the state and every month they assess a negative balance fee and interest. You don't even know this is going on. Then when the state inactive acount law kicks in, they write off the thousands they you "owe", add this to your credit report, and turn it over to the state. In some states the state will seek a lien to get the money.

2) Remember all those automatic payments that you don't have to worry about. Worry about them. They can take as long as six months to change over to a new account. If there is no money in the old account, it will result in overdraft fees, even if you closed the account. And that is ditto for electronic deposits. It takes so long because many companies see no reason to handle any cash. They pay a third party "lockbox" service to handle it for them ---- along with bounced checks, etc. --- these services are notoriously slow to respond to changes because they are mostly software-driven and have very few employees.

3) And then there is the "hidden" activity on your bank account. Didja know that utilities, and especially cell phone companies do something called "rolling credit checks." They essentially keep track of your bank accounts and their balances. This helps them spot people who are in financial trouble (supposedly.) Well, when you close your account, the utilities and especially your cell phone provider don't like that. So they put you on a "watch" list and limit your service. It's in your contract.

It is probably easier to change wives than to change banks in this day and age.

What BoA doesn't realize is that many of their customers did not sign up with them or elect to have them as a bank. Many of them were with smaller regional banks that got gobbled up in the 90's. I know my bank changed hands three times and I wound up with BoA. I have zero loyalty.

My wife changed her address last time we moved. The slack jawed idiot on the other end of the phone got her name, street, town, and state wrong. This caused her account to be linked with an overdrawn account and BoA just took $300 from her account, sending her a note a week later. Meanwhile the rent was paid between when the money was taken and when the note was sent, causing her to be overdrawn for 3 days and an overdraft fee to be tacked on. It took her 4 months to get her money back and they never did reimburse her for the overdraft fee. It's kind of hard to balance your checkbook when your bank helps themselves wrongly to your money!

I have been a B of A customer for almost a decade. But I sure as heck am not "loyal" enough to pay this fee. I don't mind just withdrawing the cash and paying cash at local stores, but I am concerned about the fact that I will not be able to use some of the online merchants I like to do business with anymore unless they offer PayPal. This will be a big hit for the online merchants who only take Visa and MC if this happens. I refuse to pay a fee like this that the people who can afford it most - those who can maintain a minimum balance - don't have to pay. I resent the fact that the people who can least afford it are the ones forced to pay it. So I will protest by not using the debit card anymore. Will be a shame not doing business with some of my favorite stores anymore. I hope they all start taking PayPal.

It is called, "the marketplace".

Wonder how many folks buy bottled water? More expensive than gasoline, yet the consumers spend their money. THAT, is a rip-off!

Well, that idea just blew up in their faces! Now that they lost hundreds of thousands customers, what's they're next gimmick to rip off their remaining customers at Bank of Airholes? This couldn't happen to a better bank! CREDIT UNIONS, PEOPLE! They pay dividends!

Is November 5th still on for closing accounts with BOA, and other large banks? I hope so.

Here is an easy way to get back at BoA (or any other company you feel is not operating honestly):

When they send you the hundreds of bogus offers --- such as for new credit cards or the completely bogus mortgage insurance or home appliance insurance, just write, "No Thanks!" on the self-addressed pre-paid envelope and drop it back into the mail to them.

These pre-paid business replies cost them $.34 to get them back and an additional $.12 if the contents exceed 1 oz. So, for everyone you return like that, BoA would be billed $.34. If you really stuff it, $.46. I have, on two occasions, carefully wrapped bricks and attached pre-paid labels to them. This can cost the sender up to $10.00. But this can only be done with the pre-paid labels. (The numbera may be a little higher these days, but these were current the last time I checked.)

You can do this for any company or offer you consider a nuisance. The "Occupy" Movement is suggesting this as a way to isolate greedy corporations. It is completely legal, supports the USPS, and there is nothing the companies can do to avoid it except stop sending you junk mail.

I also do it for the subscription "fall-out" cards that magazines insist on including. These annoying cards always seem to end up on the floor and my arthritis always complains when I pick them up. So I always send those back as well. Why would I want to subscribe for a year to a magazine that will send me 4 old magazines as part of a year's subscription? Besides, if I have the magazine in my hand, I am probably already a subscriber.

By their very high profile, these companies are highly vulnerable. Turn it against them!

People do not realize that they can smash these banks!

The old First Union got such a bad reputation that it was setting records in the banking industry for customer runoff. They were desparate. So they looked for the largest bank they could afford with a really good reputation. They bought Wachovia, a North Carolina regional bank in an unfriendly acquisition and changed the First Union name to Wachovia to try to cash in on their reputation. Instead they lost over 30% of Wachovia's personal banking customers and around 18-20% of their commercial accounts. (They didn't really care --- they were looking to create a false new identity.) They never recovered from the switch and finally Wells-Fargo ate them. Now First Union (usually referred to by customers as "F.U.") is giving Wells-Fargo indigestion.

They are now saying that you need to keep a certain amount of money in your account and they will not charge you, so it pretty much looks as if BofA is targeting the poor that have little to no money in their accounts.

Most people in CA are living paycheck to paycheck, so they will be the victims of this shameful act of BofA.

Maybe they should fire some of these top dogs that made all these stupid and bad decisions that cost them money instead of trying to screw the consumers over again.

I agree but think we need to go further--when I queried BOA they told me the fee did not apply to Advantage Customers--not sure what that means. This is just the tip of iceberg--banks are too big and have too much influence. Washington did not fix "too big to fail" so we have too--There is a move to take money out of these big banks on Nov 5th--I am moving most of my savings to another bank even tho I have an advantage account--and will move the rest if they continue to try and gouge their customers.

I'm now at a local bank. Small and only available here. Look for one in your area. Just stay away from BoA, Chase, and Wells Fargo, among others I can't think of now. But basically the big banks.

Elizabeth, why are you concerned about using a credit union?? I've used them for well over 30 years now and have never been happier. You have a problem at the CU? Call them up, you will get a real person and they strive to make their customers happy. Maybe thats because their customers are also their owners!!

Technically, USAA is and isn't a credit union (they are by the way they're organized; they're not because they don't have a "membership" requirement except for Insurance products).

I've switched everything over to them. I have to tell you, being able to use whatever ATM I want and have no fee from them, and they refund up to $15/mth in the other bank's ATM fees is pretty nice.

Oh, and their ENTIRE customer service organization is in the United States.

No matter where you live there will be a large number of local banks that are too small to be of interest to the larger "sharks." Community banks are always a good choice. Worked for one for ten years and never heard a customer complain without that complaint getting supervisory attention.

digital, thanks. I will look into that.

Chris, yes I bank at a local Community bank. they treat me well. I do have some fees that I'd rather not have, but no where near what BoA is thinking of.

USAA...I left BOA for them and I'm very happy!

That liberal nut bag, Warren Buffet, is the majority shareholder of BOA ($5 billion stake). I agree...we should all boycott BOA!! If BOA goes under, Buffet stands to lose $5 billion plus $300 million/yr. in dividends!!

i cannot understand why anyone would to bank with someone that enjoys; daggering customers....

What is blatantly obvious to me is that BoA considers your money theirs. Evidently they don't know how deposits work!

Just checked out a website before the battery drained. It's still on for November 5th. I'm going to keep a small balance for the car insurance auto pay, but am interested in a credit union for a savings/checking account.

b of a is known to be a big business bank, they dont care about the common mans business.

Uh, did you miss something? There's alot more than "a few" angry customers leaving, just like Netflix said they weren't concerned over losing "a few" customers over their decision to charge seperate, and therefore, higher prices for the services of monthly movies through mail as well as streaming, then they ended up losing 800,000, and now have decided that the move to seperate services wasn't such a wise idea after all.

...just like Netflix said they weren't concerned over losing "a few" customers over their decision to charge seperate, and therefore, higher prices for the services of monthly movies through mail as well as streaming, then they ended up losing 800,000, and now have decided that the move to seperate services wasn't such a wise idea after all.

LOL, yeah, some bean counter dropped a few beans with that prediction..... I wonder if he still works for netflix?

Compared to the amount of their customer based... thats just a few. Did you miss something... we're talking about the 2nd largest bank... not a video company?

And so obviously, they will be losing ALOT more customers!

TexasIsHome - you don't get it, but I'll try to make it simple: BofA makes it riches off of small depositors, not large ones (this is counter intuitive, but it's true - keep up and I'll show you how). Small depositors are the ones most likely to:

• Not carry large enough daily balances that qualify to earn interest
• Not carry large enough daily balances and/or direct deposits to avoid existing monthly fees
• Overdraft their accounts, and, unless they've been paying attention (not likely), incur overdraft fees or automatic transfer fees.

Now, once they're gone - and a significant number have left, according to their last earnings call - the bank will have no choice but to focus on the more upper-crust customers for their greed. THOSE are the customers that will really hurt when they move institutions.

TexasIsHome is right, I'm afraid to say. These are what you call mega-corporations. In much the same way companies like your local McDonald's can ultimately tell you to piss off and keep your measly $6.50 if you don't like the product they are serving. These companies quite literally are mega corporations and have become such an ingrained part of the world culture, that your complaints wont change anything.

The only way to make a difference to BofA and all the other "greedy" banks out there is (in massive numbers) to start using cash and keeping your money in your mattress . The government has no incentive to discourage banks from doing what they do, banks provide them with paper trails for every cent you make so that they can have an accurate assessment of how much you really owe them in taxes... and anything you have that can not be traced back to those institutions makes you a suspect of tax fraud.

And as for the Netflix analogy... perhaps they have reversed direction in spinning off the DVD delivery aspect into a separate business, they have also still doubled the price they used to charge to continue getting both their streaming service and receiving DVDs by mail. Frankly, the path they've ultimately chosen, while costing them customers in the short term, will end up costing less than maintaining 2 separate companies in the long term.

I reckon i could care less what Bank of America feels as my ass heads out the door for the last time. Me n' Bessie done took all our money out of that Neo-Con haven, and aren't ever lookin' back.

My guess is, they do care.. else they wouldn't be changin' their minds 'bout them fees.

that is why they are laying off 30,000 people, because they dont mind losing accounts?

If this brings people back to writing more checks, the banks will rescind the charge - checks cost them more money.

More likely it will just cause them to raise the fees for writing checks.

Awhile back the banks were BEGGING us to use debit cards because it allowed them to layoff thousands of people who worked in the check clearing departments.

Computers could handle all the debit transactions so debit cards were a huge profit increase for the banks.

NOW they want to charge us for doing what they BEGGED us to do.

I've started writing checks at the grocery store. If everyone wrote a check just at the grocery the banks would get the message real quick when those checks started overloading their clearing department.

If our Congresscritters were worth a dime they would introduce legislation preventing debit card charges to the customer and see that it got passed immediately.

Oh wait .. the banks give them bribes ---- errrrr ummm --big campaign contributions.

Why would I do the bank the favor of using the credit card which provides them with more income due to the fee charged to the merchant? It will drive up my costs and the bank's profits. I suspect Fred works for a bank. It is not in the consumer's best interest to use a credit card.

But... WE didn't bail them out, the Federal government on those bankers lobbyists' payrolls did, completely ignoring our intentions. If it had really been up to us, I doubt they would have been bailed out in the first place.

End the Fed! Ron Paul 2012

If it was up to us true capitalism would have occurred and they would have gone out of business, Assets liquidated. But in our kleptocracy the gooberment bails them out. Lets their cartel function as a monopoly making debt slaves of us to keep the status quo functioning. Forty percent of taxes paid to service the fascist gooberments DEBT. Democrat or republican they are all cartel employees taking care of the banksters, Socialism for the rich, bankstas. Yet they want to cut our entitlements . Fine by me as soon as they start obeying the rule of law and stop changing the laws whenever they please to protect themselves. But we know that won't happen unless the rest of this ignorant country wakes up!

Nobody came n' asked me to bail out no bank. It was that retarded Bush boy from Texas that done bailed them banks out... course them dense folk with the Tea seem to think it was that Obama fella... But even simple folk with Google can find Bush's name on that dotted line on that TARP law... even if he had to write it in Crayon.

i believe the majority of the people did not want to bail out the banks but the feds did it anyway, so now the can foreclose on the american peoples homes instead of bail them out,and forgive greece for 50% of there debt

when are people going to learn that there is not a nickels difference between a rep. and a dem.

You are correct Rick. Our government changed the laws reducing the amount the bank can charge the merchant for accepting the debit card. The proposed new charge to the card user by the bank is to make up the loss. The law did not include credit cards. The fees to the merchant are higher to process. So if you use the card as a credit card and not as a debit card you will not incur the fee.

im sorry but your both wrong, ive all ready asked BOA this and here is what they said..

We regret that your request was not completed correctly. We strive to ensure that every customer's request is handled appropriately the first time we are contacted. Bank of America has a commitment to provide the highest level of service possible. You can be assured that we will make every effort to avoid a similar situation going forward.

Please be advised that the debit card purchase monthly fee is charged when making PIN or signature-based point of sale purchases in-store, by phone or online. The fee will be triggered by the first debit card purchase within a statement cycle and will appear on your bank statement the following month.

- Electronic and recurring payments/ACH transactions made using the debit card number will trigger the new fee. Recurring payments made using a checking account number will not trigger the new fee.

-ATM transactions such as deposits, withdrawals and transfers will not trigger this fee.

-If you do not use your debit card for purchases in a given statement cycle, you will not be charged a debit card purchase monthly fee for that statement cycle.

-You will only pay the $5.00 fee once per statement cycle, regardless of how many debit card purchases you make or how many debit cards you have linked to your account in a given statement cycle.

that was from 10/03

I did the SAME thing when WaMu was bought out by Chase. I thought WaMu was pretty decent to me, and then Chase wanted me to keep a minimum balance (which I couldn't do) or they were going to charge me. Never been happier with a bank than I am with San Diego County Credit Union.

Make the switch, everyone!!

Found some interesting web sites about November 5th (Bank Transfer Day).

most credit unions i have seen require you to meet some job requirement to get an account there, so those of us on SSI due to disability are just SOL.. and since SSI is so little per month it cant meet BOA's monthly direct deposit miniumum theyl still get their $5..

I'm sure if you look around you will find other credit unions that don't have the rule. I know BECU was VERY simple to join. Just needed a pulse and of course not to have written a bunch of bad checks.

If not a local bank may also be an option for you. If you are on SSI you have plenty of time on your hands to do some research. Just saying.

Whatever you do, DON'T GIVE UP!!! THAT'S WHAT BOA IS COUNTING ON!!!

Good luck!

Of course banks have to make a profit. No one disputes that. Banks made profits - nice juicy profits - long before there were computers, ATMS, direct deposit, and debit cards. Banks used to make money by basically using their customers' deposits to make loans. They generate income from the difference between what they pay customers in interest on their savings and what they charge for interest on loans. Banks have always made a healthy profit on that basic formula. I have no problem with a bank charging fees for services that cost them money, and no problem with them making a profit from those fees. The problem is when banks are already making billions in profit, the economy is tanking, people are hurting, and they decide to randomly charge fees that cause a serious hardship for the very customers that help them build their fortunes. It's just not right.

All companies need to create profit to survive, however, this is not a "right" as BofA seems to believe. It's the result of doing the right things and making the right decisions for all concerned parties, not just the shareholders. That's where I find BofA's attitude offensive; that they have a "right" to "make up for lost revenue" due to our government putting a cap in place as to how badly they can screw us. Tell me: what can I do to make up for the lost value in my home, my retirement account, and the 20% reduction in my salary I've experienced over the past 3 years? What recourses do the Constitution and Bill of Rights afford me to recoup what the banks played a large part in concerning my financial losses?

Good idea BofA transferred several hundred thousand in assets from my stolen home into thier name and left me out in the street to die with a quarter million left in one BofA account alone.

A friend of mine in Dallas had BofA enforcer (servicer) admit in court they had no claim to his several hundred thousand dollar residence. The judge shut down the case refused to release the court transcripts, and about a dozen police stormed his home and destroyed his paper evidence and hard drive evidence against BofA and accomplices and threw him out into the street as well. Anyone with credibility upper middle class, upper class with investment, political, legal etc, connections exposing fraud gets stomped into smithereens by the BofA, Goldman etc. Mafia.

Well there is a history of banksters is a long one.Just look at the history books about the banks and the gold rush. You can see how the swindled the gold miners. Then you can look at standard oil and the banksters.

When you see someone in a suit. Just remmeber its hard work and the toil of others gave him that suit. He didnt make it himself. These guys are ruthless and they are proud of it.

There are no fees because they are exempt from the Durbin amendment

Not my problem. Big banks make big profits and dont care who they hurt in the process. Citi just paid a large fine of Hundreds of millions of dollars for unethical/illegal business practices without admitting guilt. The stockholders got hurt. The fat cat banksters didnt have to return oversized bonuses they received while this illegal activity was being practiced now did they. The bank is a joke, the fine is a joke and the banksters should be in jail.