dagblog - Comments for "Same as Cash?"

Some pundits are crediting

Donal — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 17:09:40 +0000

In reply to BofA Retreats On Debit Fee,

Some pundits are crediting OWS with BOA's retreat on debit fees:

Did Occupiers Just Beat Bank of America?

Are big banks feeling pressure from Occupy Wall Street?

BofA Retreats On Debit Fee,

Donal — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 18:54:02 +0000

In reply to Same as Cash?

BofA Retreats On Debit Fee, Citing Uproar

Bank of America Corp. has dropped its plan to charge customers $5 a month for making purchases with their debit cards, responding to a customer backlash after the fee was announced in September.

The move is the highest-profile retreat following decisions by several rivals in recent days to drop customer tests of the new fees. SunTrust Banks Inc. and Regions Financial Corp. also said Monday that they will stop charging customers for debit-card transactions. The announcements also follow decisions last week by Wells Fargo & Co. and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. to drop customer tests of the new fees.

(No subject)

Donal — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 01:15:10 +0000

In reply to Same as Cash?

When my bank card last

moat — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 02:55:57 +0000

In reply to Same as Cash?

When my bank card last required renewal, they automatically made it a debit card. I had it changed back into an-access-to-account card.

The debit card is basically an instant check writing system. The banks either carry the cost of processing transactions with the hope that having you as a client will lead to other fees or charge you straight up for using their services.

I prefer using either cash or credit. The credit card makes its money on the client failing to pay it off properly. Less mistakes, less cost.

Cash is cash.

We have accounts at two

Ramona — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 20:51:41 +0000

In reply to My wife has had an account

We have accounts at two different credit unions, one large and one small. I do online banking at both of them. We don't have a mortgage with them, so I don't know about that, but we do have a car loan with one of them with automatic payments. We have our mortgage at a small bank, mainly because the interest rate was lower, but all our other banking is done at the CUs. No complaints so far.

My wife has had an account

Donal — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 20:24:38 +0000

In reply to At risk of sounding like a

My wife has had an account with her credit union forever. She loves it, but I have mixed feelings. Last time I checked, they still didn't have online banking, and when we went to them for a house loan, they tried to include that damn mortgage insurance. When we balked at that, they tried the old, "If you don't do it now, you can't apply again for at least a year." routine. We went elsewhere.

At risk of sounding like a

Ramona — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 20:13:09 +0000

In reply to Same as Cash?

At risk of sounding like a shill for the Credit Unions let me just say... there's always the Credit Union. Almost everything a bank can do, a Credit Union can do better.

And there's always independent banks. Nobody has to have a checking account or debit card with the "too big to fail" banks. Why pay those fees when you don't have to?

Half the posts I read say the

Donal — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 20:03:59 +0000

In reply to The idea of charging

Half the posts I read say the banks are flush with cash, and the other half say BoA is staggering under mountains debt, so I don't know how serious they are. I do get a lot of utility from my debit card, but it seems ridiculous that they have my money at near-zero percent interest and have to charge me more to spend it. The ATM is only five blocks away, so I can limit myself to cash withdrawals if necessary. Or, as you say, have my pay deposited elsewhere.

The idea of charging

Michael Wolraich — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 19:52:00 +0000

In reply to Same as Cash?

The idea of charging consumers for debit transactions is moronic, and it won't last long. As the Citibank guy said, "We have talked to customers and they have made it abundantly clear that 'if you charge me to use my debit card, I would find that very irritating.'"

The cost of supporting debit card purchases is very low and easily paid for by the $0.24 fee allowed under the Durbin agreement. Basically, the banks were just cranking up the fees for merchants who could not refuse. Having lost this income stream, they think that they can magically transfer it directly to customers.

But customers can and will refuse by paying with cash or credit (or cell phone), so the banks that charge fees will lose the income anyway and possibly the customers to boot. They will rapidly conclude that $0.24 is better than nothing and rescind the fees.

I have a debit card that

Richard Day — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 18:45:39 +0000

In reply to Same as Cash?

I have a debit card that nobody turns down. I have my tiny account with Wells Fargo.

On my trip to NY and back it worked just fine and dandy and the only extra charge on my account was one dollar when I filled my son's gas tank!

Except for that dollar I have been charged nothing. This is really great for poor people.

I don't know what they do at other banks these days.

Normally I write a check for rent and a check for my internet--since the local office is six blocks from here.

I use the debit card only at the grocery store.

I listened to a committee hearing on CSPAN and this repub bastard was arguing with the retailer.

"If you are so damned mad about the Visa charges why do you not pass it onto the consumer but offer the consumer a discount for cash or check purchases?"

I heard all this back in the 80's and indeed, back then you could get discounts at gas stations and such if you paid in cash.

What the retailer was attempting to say was that there is a small group of credit card companies who conspire to keep the amounts charged to retailers high.

That is a fact. Fuck the repub bastard but a small cadre of conspirators is just as bad as a straight out monopoly.

Now, I understand it when you tell me that if the retailers are granted relief, you would expect no relief will spill down to the consumer!

I do feel that the credit card industry in this society is in the hands of a few and I cannot believe that is a good thing!