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Tim Carney (Wash. Examiner column): Thank Wal-Mart for your new bank card fee


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http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/article/thank-wal-mart-your-new-bank-card-fee

When Bank of America announced last week that it would charge $5 a month to customers who make purchases with their debit card, customers railed against the bank.

Many conservatives and libertarians said the anger should be aimed at Congress and the Obama administration, which, through last year's Dodd-Frank financial regulation bill, effectively outlawed the old debit card business model, spurring Bank of America to make this change.

But the real culprit is Walmart and the retail lobby, which used government to squeeze banks and fatten their own bottom line. Walmart won, banks lost, and now customers are stuck with a new monthly fee.

Here's the background: Whenever you use a credit card or debit card to buy something at a store, the credit card processor (like Visa or Mastercard) and the issuing bank (like Bank of America or Chevy Chase Bank) both take a cut. The store may only get $9.70 on a $10 purchase.

How is that rate -- the "interchange fee" -- set? Until this year, it was set by market forces. Visa and Mastercard offer stores a service that facilitates sales and brings in more business. In return, they demand a cut of the sale. Walmart and Joe's Corner Store aren't required to accept debit cards or credit cards, but they do, which means that they decided the price was worth it.

Retailers, of course, wish the card issuers and processors would provide this service for free. Businessmen are always looking for a better deal. The businessmen in this case decided to employ regulatory robbery to get their way. Led by Walmart and the Retail Industry Leaders Association, retailers pushed for a federal cap on interchange fees.

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I will dust off my old checkbook and start writing checks again before I pay a dime extra to the banks to get access to MY MONEY.

You aren't paying to access your money. You're paying for the convenience of accessing your money at POS.

Someone was going to lose in that fight. Retailers "lose" money, anywhere from 1-2% for Visa/MC or up to 4% for Amex transactions. Either the stores raise prices, or the banks raise fees.

I'm leaving bank of america this weekend for a credit union. They can kiss my ass.

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You aren't paying to access your money. You're paying for the convenience of accessing your money at POS.

Someone was going to lose in that fight. Retailers "lose" money, anywhere from 1-2% for Visa/MC or up to 4% for Amex transactions. Either the stores raise prices, or the banks raise fees.

I'm leaving bank of america this weekend for a credit union. They can kiss my ass.

There is a caveat. If you have a mortgage through BOA or combined accounts that exceed $20k, you aren't subject to the $5 a month fee for the months you use their debit card.

You can also get around it by downgrading to an ATM only card.

As for the policy itself - I think it's bush league..and it's only coming because BOA failed at so many mortgages and needs a quick steady influx of cash.

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What a shill for the banks. The banks were gouging the retailer who were passing on the cost to us, the Feds said stop, now they are going after us directly which is the way it should be. At least now we have a choice.

---------- Post added October-3rd-2011 at 04:03 PM ----------

There is a caveat. If you have a mortgage through BOA or combined accounts that exceed $20k, you aren't subject to the $5 a month fee for the months you use their debit card.
BOA are scumbags. Better to just stay away from them.

I have a mortgage from HSBC so if I have $1 in an account I get premium checking and ATM fees paid.

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hahaha that article is a lump of ****. Stop spamming the board with steaming turds, seriously.
Just because you SAY it's :pooh: doesn't make it so. Now, if you were to offer substantive reasons WHY it's :pooh: I might listen.
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I'm leaving bank of america this weekend for a credit union. They can kiss my ass.

My wife just left a few weeks ago and brought her business to my credit union. I kinda felt bad for the old guy managing the BOA we closed it from. The whole process took maybe 30-40 minutes.

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Just because you SAY it's :pooh: doesn't make it so. Now, if you were to offer substantive reasons WHY it's :pooh: I might listen.

I love how he picks out Wal Mart.

What percentage of United States retailers are considered big box? Less than 1/10 of 1 percent or so? Yet, that's what the moron in your OP wants to talk about. Compare that to the major credit companies. Is there such thing as a mom and pop credit card company? :ols:

They are absolutely KILLING mom and pops with their fees.

**** them. Doesn't surprise me that they've decided to pass it on to the consumer, blame Wal Mart, and put their paid hacks on the PR job. Glad to see you blindly getting on board like a good little boy and spamming this website with their trash.

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Durbin, needless to say, doesn't like being blamed for this highly unpopular new fee. He blasted B of A for instituting the fee, calling it "unfair." Other liberals say B of A is just making excuses for fleecing their customers. But Bank of America was always free to charge a monthly fee to debit card customers. It didn't because it thought it could get more customers by charging the stores instead.
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Durbin, needless to say, doesn't like being blamed for this highly unpopular new fee. He blasted B of A for instituting the fee, calling it "unfair." Other liberals say B of A is just making excuses for fleecing their customers. But Bank of America was always free to charge a monthly fee to debit card customers. It didn't because it thought it could get more customers by charging the stores instead.
Exactly. So when Wal Mart says, "if you want to rip off our customers, do it yourself and quit hiding behind us", how is Wal Mart to blame?
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Exactly. So when Wal Mart says, "if you want to rip off our customers, do it yourself and quit hiding behind us", how is Wal Mart to blame?

Because they didn't do it. The government did it for them. Wal Mart at any time could have said, we're going to stop taking your cards.

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Because they didn't do it. The government did it for them. Wal Mart at any time could have said, we're going to stop taking your cards.

I don't know for certain (because I don't shop at wal-mart or Sams Club), but I've heard Sams Club ONLY accepts discover.

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I have been with a local credit union for a year now. Best decision I ever made. I have my check, savings, 2 car loans and an investment account all through them. I can't understand why people stay with these big banks. Great customer service, responsible bank practices and no fees. I have multiple ATMs and bank locations near my house/work and if I am out of town I can use a network on credit unions to bank with without any fees. It is really not a hard decision.

Take a couple of hours one day this week and join a credit union.

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Close your account with a big bank and go to a credit union or community bank. I left BoA for a community bank. I get the exact same features with my account but without the fees. The tellers are more friendly and the bank is much cleaner than the BoA I used. I'm very happy with the change. It's very easy to do also. Don't put it off.

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So if the bank is not getting paid for these transactions, how are they supposed to continue offering the services. I don't understand why the fed is regulating business fees. How exactly was that ever going to help the consumer?

The banks would still be getting paid a fee the government just slashed how much they could legally charge since they were milking the system. So Mr. Megapocket banker turned around and said **** you public we're going to make YOU pay the unnecessary fees instead so now their pockets will be even fuller.

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