[Slyscribe]

BofA's $5 debit card charge is latest part of this trend.

[donhunt]

I’ll just pull out all my money and stuff it in my mattress.

[stylin19a]

and most banks will follow.
A lot of businesses no longer accept personal checks.
looks like the banks are sitting in the cat-bird seat.

[cuban leaf]

—“The costs of processing debit card transactions doesn’t go away because you limit the price,” said John Berlau...—

Only a fraction of the fee is the cost. It's mostly profit.

Not that I'm for these sort of controls, but he is being disingenuous.

[Adder]

$.44 for a debit transaction? Thats electronic?

Waiting for my bank to come up with something...and I won’t be happy about it. They are making money on the money I have to keep with them for “free checking”, lest they forget....

[cuban leaf]

I’ve worked in the Payment Card Industry (PCI).

Just as magazines and newspapers make money both from subscriptions AND ads, cards make money both on interest AND fees every time you use the card.

And debit card fees are much lower than credit card fees. That is, if you have a debit card with a VISA logo and use it as a debit card the store/business at which you are using the card is charged a fee significantly lower than if you use it as a credit card.

And this is why more and more companies are trying to default the customer to debit rather than credit. And why the banks are, in response, trying to jack up the debit fee.

The first impact will be that retailers will continue to benefit from customers using debit cards rather than credit cards. Beyond that, I dunno. The fee is basically profit, so it means some profits will be cut and they will have to look elsewhere for the money. But to place the onus of gaining more profits on the actual user (rather than the place where the card is used) exposes the banks to customer dissatisfaction. And the customer is free to change cards/banks. Short of overt anti-trust violations, banks can’t just decide to jack up customer fees without the risk of losing customers to banks that don’t.

[Buckeye McFrog]

There’s a method to this madness. Make sure the average Joe out in South Succotash gets so spark-spittin angry at the banks that eventually he’ll get onboard with a government takeover, just as long as his Visa interest and ATM fees come down as a result.

[trapped_in_LA]

What costs? Other than maintaining a computer database this is almost free money for the banks.