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FBN’s Gerri Willis on the increasing number of fees banks such as Bank of America are charging customers.
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Well last Thursday I stood right here -- -- back of the envelope segment.
And I protest at Bank of America's new five dollar a month be.
We're using your debit card -- cutting up mind.
After all that's what I'm here for to show -- main street gets -- by Washington and Wall Street.
Now I injected this be because I feel -- consumers already pay enough to the banks.
This -- along would -- about two billion dollars to banks bottom lines.
And boy did you respond I was.
Inundated with emails FaceBook posts and tweets many of you agree with me the banks are taking advantage of the very folks who bailed them out in the first place.
-- or something we got from Roger Garrett He wrote after thirty years of banking -- be -- a today I walked into a local branch.
And asked to speak to the branch manager and closed every one of my counts.
Pretty dramatic stuff.
Others of a -- however thought I was being unfair to the bank these folks believe the new Durbin amendment to the Dodd-Frank bill -- undue financial pressure on lenders.
That amendment reduce the amount of money banks can collect from merchants and so called swipe fees.
Now this is no small -- only last year swipe fees totaled 48 billion dollars.
Seventeen billion from debit cards.
Here's what Joseph McGuinness said.
He said banks are the business to make money and Dodd-Frank is going to reduce earnings they need to replace revenue in order to prosper and hopefully pay dividends to shareholders.
The culprit He says I got the -- Is government -- -- -- -- look there is no doubt the banking business has -- over regulated in part of the reason lenders are not eager to live and is because every day some new rule comes down from Washington but do you really believe retailers are gonna pass their savings -- swipe fees on -- consumers.
The -- on time for that.
Away -- winners and losers and every one of these debates and consumers we always seem to come out on the short end of the stick.
Now many of you told me a -- -- long ago pulled the plug on your big money center banks Robert C Richardson also wrote -- He said that's.
My wife and I only is our credit union which provides us with a MasterCard debit card.
And we finance several autos they -- a great interest rates I can't understand why anyone uses banks anymore.
Well amen to that credit unions can be a good alternative and Robert has a right.
The rates of interest they charge on loans can be much better than big banks I'd say be sure to check out the size of -- ATM network that's important.
And also what kind of online presence they have because for me online bill pay.
I gotta happen it's a must.
Another great alternative can be a smaller local or regional bank I like that to you although.
Some of the minority institute instituted that is debit card fees as well.
Now look one option I'm considering -- just getting a great rewards credit -- putting all my daily transactions on that ones that would've gone a debit card.
-- -- to be careful to pay it off in full each month.
-- and by the way you may be responding to our segment that Bank of America.
Not all that responsive -- that's what I got over the weekend.
I was trying to get online and and take a look at in my account over and over and over again finally got through one.
Sunday afternoon.
Now Bank of America -- spokeswoman there told me.
That there website has not been down even though as I said I tried over and over again.
What's more the bank has nothing to say.
About whether traffic on the side is through the roof because of its new sixty dollar your -- -- I wonder if He went down with your too many people wanted to whether they just wanted to take it down to Begin with.
Look at the end of the day I don't believe bank should be squeezing at like eleven to make their profit margins but we have the power to vote with our -- The stand up for what we want as consumers.
You don't have to accept these changes.
