Bank of America to Charge Customers Fee for Debit Card Purchases
Bank of America, the largest bank in the United States, plans to start charging customers who use their debit cards for purchases a $5 monthly fee beginning early next year.
B of A is one of several large U.S. banks that have been testing or planning monthly debit card fees including Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase and Sun Trust Banks.
Banks have been looking for ways to increase revenues as regulations introduced since the financial crisis have limited their ability to use overdraft and other fees.
The fee will be waived for the bank’s premium or platinum privileges accounts tied to its Merrill Lynch brokerage and will also not be charged for using debit cards to access the bank’s ATMs.
The move is partly because of a new federal regulation that goes into effect on October 1 which will begin limiting the cut banks can take from merchants at the point of sale.
Photo Credit: Senseiich, via Wikimedia Commons
