Would you pay the B of A $5 debit card fee (Page 2)

I'm a BoA customer, for now, and was a heavy debit card user for most small purchases.  I will not be paying the fee.  Short term, I'll be switching to a rewards credit card that is obviously paid off every month.  More long term, I will most likely be joining a local credit union that will give me better interest rates anyway.  So long, BoA. 

Odds on when they ask for another bailout?

The regulation placed a cap on the per-transaction fee - something like 25 cents now, whereas BoA was getting around 45 cents prior.  Which is why this move is a little weird IMO.  Let's add a new fee that causes people to USE THE CARD LESS OFTEN - thus reducing the number of 25 cent transactions and generating even less income.  Brilliant!

So you can avoid the fee by being careful.  Or you can switch to a bank which has 1 cash machine in your area and be careful not to use any 3rd party machines (at about $2 a pop).

I'll take the convenience factor.  And it won't surprise me if this BoA fee can also be avoided by having a high account balance.

I do this.  It has the added benefit of completely paying for two family vacations!!!!

Also I'm a BofA customer.  We have several different accounts with them along with our mortgage and a "premier banking" relationship with them.  They won't be charging us the any fees.

Most CUs will refund you every penny of transaction fee charged by a non branch ATM.  There used to be a time when banks actually paid you to use your money, funny concept.

Well the good thing is they, for the most part, don't have to.  The regulations BofA cites as the reason only apply if the bank has assets of something like $500 million or more.  What ever it is, 99% of CUs don't fall under the scope of the regulations.  I'll try to it again for a real number...

I could easily afford the $60, but I'd switch in a heart beat.

heck, I called and yelled at my banker because they charged me some $10 fee a couple months back telling me I hit some trigger of not using my card 10 times in a month.  I told him to remove the fee or I'd be removing my money, and he did.

I guess it's one of those things.  I've never paid for a checking account since I was 14 years old and I don't plan to ever pay for one.

Fire your bank.  ESPECIALLY Bank of A$$holes.  Join a credit union.

And to the person who talked about combining their checking and mortgage (as well as lines of credit, credit cards, etc)....if the fit ever hits the shan, they can garnish your in-house liquid account to cover your debts, ESPECIALLY Bank of A$$holes.  

Sequester your accounts and keep your cash away from your credit lines.

We are with B of A and I am looking to move but honestly have no idea where to go. How does one join a credit union? The ones in my area seem to be dedicated to a specific job/employer like a teachers credit union etc.  My Mom belongs to one but it is for hospital workers.

I like the idea of simply using a credit card.....BUT....I know there are people out there (this includes me) who should not use credit cards. I had them I took advantage, and we nearly lost our house due to my lack of financial fortitude---easiest decision for me--end the credit card usage and never get one again, I know I am just not responsible enough to use one.

On the same note, I am seriously looking into a credit union--I bank with 2 of the biggies right now--not BofA, but I know its only a matter of time before they impose these fees.

Another idea--use cash for shopping and just visit the ATM--in my bank--and checks or online payments for bills. I might buy less crap this way too.

Exactly. I'm not with ING but with Ally Bank (http://www.ally.com/). No fees or anything. They even reimburse me the fees charged by non-Ally ATMs at the end of the month.

we have our joint checking/savings with Key Bank. only been with them for about 2 years now, so far it has been good. every time we walked in the door they have been nice, polite, and professional. no real fees to speak of and we even have a points/cash back award on our debit card which has been pretty nice actually.

used to be with washington mutual before the died and i was actually happy with them as a basic checking/debit customer. Chase sucks though.

My wife and I are going in sometime next week to cancel all of our BofA accounts and go with our local credit union. BofA has sent me revised account agreements every week for the last two months. Page and pages of new rules and fees.

Between the ridiculous fees and the fact that you have to speak spanish to get anything done at my local BofA, I will be switching and not looking back. Now if only I could afford to refi my loan away from Wells Fargo I'd be a real happy guy.

Thanks for making my point with your stupid analogy.

As long as the signs were written in Spanish as well, nobody should care.

YES.

But, anyway, say whatever, I usually don't lower myself to these type of discussions.

Actually they MAKE money when you use a debit card, right?  That's the whole point...the merchant pays them a fee every time you swipe your debit card...hence why a lot of banks offered rewards and such for using your debit card.

I believe the recent legislation capped that fee the bank can collect when you swipe your card, so instead of just taking a little less profit they are passing that cut on to the consumer in the form of a $5 charge per month.

Credit Unions in the US are not-for-profit and are owned by the customers who elect board members to oversee the operations (here is a good explanation of the structure of CUs).  The goal of CUs is not to make a profit but to provide the best service and rates and using what profits they make to keep the rates low and charge as little fees as possible.  Most CUs I know have much more competitive rates than national banks.

Yes, you have to be part of a specific group of people to become a member.  However, some of them are fairly open and will include family members.  You might check with your moms CU and see if they would accept you based on her working there. 

My credit union has all the perks of any other bank.  Savings accounts, free checking, free atm, free debit cards, CDs, free online banking, etc.

Switching to a CU is the best way to tell these big banks to get their act together.

Apparently, I would not.  We used to have three checking accounts: hers, mine, and ours.  I canceled my Wells Fargo account as soon as the banking regulations were changed even before new fees were applied. 

My local credit union is still free for debit/ATM card and checking.  The CU is paying almost nothing on savings and CDs so they should be able to make some money without hitting the personal accounts for fees.

I :heart: USAA but I did threaten to leave them a few years ago...despite the fact that I am forced to live in FL because of my military assignment they still would not insure my house here.  Then because they didn't insure my house here (note, they refused) they said they could not insure my rental property in SD.  I threw a pretty good fit over that one and they agreed to continue insuring the rental even though they didn't insure my primary residence.

hijack off

USAA is great in the "no fees" department.  They really don't have ANY fees...and even pay back ATM charges.  I think about the only things you have to pay for are wire transfers...but those aren't free anywhere!

Now, when I win $1000 in Vegas playing craps...I sure do miss having a brick and mortar building to walk into to deposit it.  Instead I find myself trying to spend a ridiculous number of $100 bills when a lot of places don't necessarily want them for the size purchases I am doing.  Besides, I hate paying in cash because then I don't get cash back bonus or FF miles!

I guess since I have a BoA mortgage I could walk into the brick and mortar BoA down the street and ask them to break the bills into smaller amounts.  In fact, I think I will...

Just be sure to get one that is FDIC insured.  When I was a kid there was a HUGE issue with this in RI...a TON of people lost their money because they had it in CU's that were not FDIC insured....