ext_90803 ([identity profile] badlydrawnjeff.livejournal.com) wrote in [community profile] talkpolitics2011-09-30 12:57 pm
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A Lesson in Unnecessary Regulation

By now, you've probably heard about Bank of America's plan to begin charging $5/month on the customer side for debit card usage. What you probably haven't heard of is why:

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Bank of America Corp. (BAC), the largest U.S. bank by assets, plans to charge customers a $5 monthly fee for making debit card purchases starting early next year, according to an internal memo sent to bank executives Thursday.

...

Bank of America is trying to cushion revenue losses it expects to incur from new caps on the fees merchants pay when a customer uses a debit card at their stores. In June, the Federal Reserve Board finalized rules capping such fees at 24 cents per transaction, compared with a current average of 44 cents.

...

Other banks have introduced or are testing new fees in response to the debit fee caps, which stem from a provision known as the Durbin amendment in last year's Dodd-Frank financial regulation overhaul legislation.


This follows many banks ending free checking in large part to the regulations in the Dodd-Frank bill limiting debit overdraft fees. This will likely not be the last time we see banks making more adjustments, either.

Regulations matter. The negative impact of regulatory action when it's not needed only ends up hurting the rest of us in the long run. In a misguided rush by the left to "protect" the population from evil, predatory banks, all you've done is now made it harder for those who you profess to represent and care about the most to use banking services. Congratulations on another job well done.

[identity profile] malakh-abaddon.livejournal.com 2011-09-30 09:14 pm (UTC)(link)
So their profit is down. Oh the boogyman of regulation is creeping into the closets of the people who run these banks, and is going to steal their pillow. Oh I feel so sorry for them, I mean god forbid that their profit isn't however many hundreds of millions of dollars a year, because they can't charge all these fees.

Look, I am all for responsibility, but one bank I dealt with, we will call it Patriot Bank, would bust you if you overdrew your account. That was fine, except they would bounce a check if it was one red penny over what you had, fine you $35, take the money out of your account paying what was over drafted, and taking the $35, out of the account incurring another $35 fee. Grand total for one bad check was $70. One other trick this bank pulled, and I know many banks will do this, they would debit your account before crediting a deposit, lots of overdraft fees in doing that. Good luck if it was an error on their part, you still had the privilege of paying those fees.

[identity profile] meus-ovatio.livejournal.com 2011-09-30 09:49 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, it's pretty much SOP for banks to line up your withdrawals by size and time first in the order, then do the deposits.

[identity profile] the-rukh.livejournal.com 2011-09-30 10:00 pm (UTC)(link)
Was. US Bank doesn't seem to anymore.

[identity profile] the-rukh.livejournal.com 2011-10-01 03:03 am (UTC)(link)
Is for me, I accidentally overdrew my checking last year and was pleasantly surprised to find they just gave the one overdraft and shut it down.

[identity profile] gunslnger.livejournal.com 2011-10-01 07:14 am (UTC)(link)
Most banks don't do this any more, AFAIK.

[identity profile] kardashev.livejournal.com 2011-09-30 10:18 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, feeling sorry for banks is a little like feeling sorry for the oil companies.