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Old 09-29-2011, 09:08 PM   #41
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Originally Posted by M Paquette View Post
Guess what large bank is currently studying the idea of implementing a debit card fee, and testing a $3 monthly fee in selected lucky markets?

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/30/bu...-card-fee.html
Plenty of free banks to choose from.
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Old 09-29-2011, 09:13 PM   #42
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I guess I am the only one ....who does not use an ATM card or Debit card. I still write checks, use cash or my 1 credit card I've had the last 35 years. Works for me...and I don't feel inconvenienced at all. But as a woman, I carry a purse... can carry more stuff than what can fit in a back pocket.
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Old 09-29-2011, 09:34 PM   #43
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You can use your Smart phone to pay bills too. I rather have a built in chip inside my finger so I can scan that.
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Old 09-29-2011, 09:53 PM   #44
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You can use your Smart phone to pay bills too. I rather have a built in chip inside my finger so I can scan that.
I'm sure I don't have a smart phone, but I could possibly have a finger-chip. I'll have to check that. Like some others here, I'm puzzled about what use anyone would have for a BOA debit card. I do have a debit card, but it's only to use the ATM machine of my local bank. BOA doesn't have ATM machines hereabouts, so far as I know. Is that an East coast thing?
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Old 09-29-2011, 10:15 PM   #45
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Boa should have the Visa/MC logo on check card. ATM Card with no visa/mc logo? That sounds like the mid ninties.

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I'm sure I don't have a smart phone, but I could possibly have a finger-chip. I'll have to check that. Like some others here, I'm puzzled about what use anyone would have for a BOA debit card. I do have a debit card, but it's only to use the ATM machine of my local bank. BOA doesn't have ATM machines hereabouts, so far as I know. Is that an East coast thing?
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Old 09-29-2011, 11:13 PM   #46
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Does anyone know if I can have my SS direct-deposited to Schwab, Fidelity or Vanguard? (For future reference. Still laboring in the fields of mammon.)

IIRC, Schwab also does not charge special fees for using their cards overseas (currency exchange fees, ATM fees, etc.).
DW's SS payment goes to our Fidelity account each month--no problems.
Shows up a deposit from US Treasury.
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Old 09-30-2011, 06:10 AM   #47
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Im confused.
Ive got a BofA card that can be used either as credit OR debit.
I use it only as credit- and the payment is automatically and immediately made from my account. So, it effectively acts like debit card even when used as a credit card.
Is this use as a credit card subject to the new 5$ fee??
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Old 09-30-2011, 06:19 AM   #48
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We've never had a debit card simply because the consumer protections are so much better with a cc. I learned about that in the Fraud Section.

For other transactions we still use either checks or (gasp!) cash. Hey, it works.
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Old 09-30-2011, 06:26 AM   #49
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Same here.
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We've never had a debit card (...)
For other transactions we still use either checks or (gasp!) cash.
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Old 09-30-2011, 07:18 AM   #50
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Something just crossed my mind about using my BOA debit card. As I recall, I can use my bank card as a debit or credit. As a credit card, the money still comes out of checking the instant I use it, but you have to sign for it like any other credit card. I for one don't like getting credit card bills at the end of the month except for gas purchases, and larger $ purchases. I hate to think of buying groceries on the credit card. I'll either have to change my thinking on that and start charging everything or just use my debit card as a credit card by not puttting in a pin number. Maybe I'll have to change and get into the "rewards" frame of mind.
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Old 09-30-2011, 08:19 AM   #51
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Originally Posted by Ken11 View Post
Im confused.
Ive got a BofA card that can be used either as credit OR debit.
I use it only as credit- and the payment is automatically and immediately made from my account. So, it effectively acts like debit card even when used as a credit card.
Is this use as a credit card subject to the new 5$ fee??

Then it is a debit card.... with no credit attached.... you must be mistaken on what you think you have...
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Old 09-30-2011, 08:22 AM   #52
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Originally Posted by JOHNNIE36 View Post
Something just crossed my mind about using my BOA debit card. As I recall, I can use my bank card as a debit or credit. As a credit card, the money still comes out of checking the instant I use it, but you have to sign for it like any other credit card. I for one don't like getting credit card bills at the end of the month except for gas purchases, and larger $ purchases. I hate to think of buying groceries on the credit card. I'll either have to change my thinking on that and start charging everything or just use my debit card as a credit card by not puttting in a pin number. Maybe I'll have to change and get into the "rewards" frame of mind.
Like Ken, I think you are mistaken in thinking that it is a credit card... you can use your debit with pin or signature, but if they take the money out of your account the instant you use it, it is a debit card pure and simple... also without the CC protections that you might think you have...


AFAIK, you can have either a debit card OR a credit card, but not both in one card... maybe someone can prove me wrong...
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Old 09-30-2011, 08:27 AM   #53
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One of the radio people today mentioned the $5 charge and said that all customers should go to their bank and close out their accounts...

I think if there were enough people who did this, the fee would be removed pretty quickly...


Also, I do not understand some people who say they have to stay with a bank because they have a loan or because of their bill pay or whatever... heck, all big banks have these... most small banks have these... and you do NOT have to pay off the loan if you move your checking...


AND, you can just open up a second checking account at another bank and leave open your BofA account and just not use it.... I have had an account at Cap One for years without any activity....
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Old 09-30-2011, 08:39 AM   #54
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The $5 fee is fine with me.

I'm a cash buyer, so I've been subsidizing the people who use credit cards and debit cards for years. If the retailers stop paying so much to the plastic companies, they can start giving me better prices.
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Old 09-30-2011, 08:46 AM   #55
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I for one don't like getting credit card bills at the end of the month except for gas purchases, and larger $ purchases. I hate to think of buying groceries on the credit card.
You spend what you spend, and you pay for it, either immediately or when the statement's due; only difference, as I see it, is that in the latter instance you're using the banks money for a while.
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Old 09-30-2011, 09:35 AM   #56
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Thanks, BofA. Looks like you are kindling competition in the marketplace. Making sure the 'little people' in your branch are properly demotivated with the 'For Sale or Lease' sign on the front of your branch probably helps, too. (Yeah. Good grief.)
Another poster, BestWife, referenced earlier in this thread regarding Congressional legislation which is directly driving these fees. I don't think anyone else mentioned it but it should be the crux of this discussion. IMO, Durbin's bill is yet another example of the Law of Unintended Consequences through poorly thought out regulation from our Congress as they, rather than the banks, are "kindling competition in the marketplace". The small local banks are obviously using this PR hit for the Big Banks as a loss leader to draw in more customers...with the eventual goal of becoming a Big Bank themselves one day.

Did Congress Kill the Debit Card? - Daniel Indiviglio - Business - The Atlantic
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Old 09-30-2011, 10:27 AM   #57
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My bank just updated their fee schedule and I will still have free checking. It's now $10/mo to have the Savings account unless you have a $500 minimum balance, but that's no big deal because we keep more than that in the local savings anyway. I'm another one who uses PenFed VISA for all purchases (5% cashback on gas and 1% on everything else) and then I pay it in full when the statement posts. My local bank has some convoluted points reward program for using your debit card and online billpay but I prefer PenFed's cash reward posted to my account. I haven't used the debit card in years.

Our son told me that the only reason he still keeps his local savings account is to have the $500 minimum balance to avoid the monthly charge. He also has online ING savings and checking accounts with no fee ATM access and he's probably going to close his local savings account.

I should probably simplify my banking. All my accounts are still free but I have too many accounts, local and online. I keep track easily enough but if something should happen to me DH would be burdened by the multiple accounts I've used just to gain an extra .5% here and there. It was worth the trouble when rates were better.

I'm old fashioned, I still want to use the local bank on the corner (where I have the bank account numbers memorized!) even though I have accounts at a bank 10 minutes away. But the bank 10 minutes away is on a very busy corner and it's a major pain to make a left turn out of the parking lot!

If my free accounts start to cost me money, they are GONE.
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Old 09-30-2011, 10:29 AM   #58
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Another poster, BestWife, referenced earlier in this thread regarding Congressional legislation which is directly driving these fees. I don't think anyone else mentioned it but it should be the crux of this discussion. IMO, Durbin's bill is yet another example of the Law of Unintended Consequences through poorly thought out regulation from our Congress as they, rather than the banks, are "kindling competition in the marketplace". The small local banks are obviously using this PR hit for the Big Banks as a loss leader to draw in more customers...with the eventual goal of becoming a Big Bank themselves one day.

Did Congress Kill the Debit Card? - Daniel Indiviglio - Business - The Atlantic

Banks make a lot of money off fees... and the 'gotchas' they create...

They will still be making a ton of money off of debit cards, just not as much...


As an example..... this is old, but probably still true... back in the day it cost a bank less than 15 cents to process a bounced check... but charged the customer $15... the customer had to pay that fee because it was listed in the costs of the account... but then banks thought... we can get MORE fees if we pay the largest check first and then the smaller checks after that so we can run up the number of bounced checks... a 'gotcha' kind of fee... because of this, they got slapped down with a law...

Same for the debit fee....

I still say that if millions of people went to BofA and closed out their account because of that fee.... it would be stopped very quickly... it is only when a fee is accepted by the masses that it sticks (such as all the fees the airlines charge)...
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Old 09-30-2011, 10:38 AM   #59
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IMO, Durbin's bill is yet another example of the Law of Unintended Consequences through poorly thought out regulation from our Congress as they, rather than the banks, are "kindling competition in the marketplace".
Nothing unintended at all. Calculated, planned, and executed by the banks and congress. Durbin has been in their pocket for years.
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Old 09-30-2011, 10:44 AM   #60
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For those looking to leave Bank of America, USAA checking is pretty awesome. Free checks, ATM fees are refunded and if you also get a credit card through them, you can deposit checks at home via your scanner or smartphone. They've got free online bill pay too, but I've never used it.

The deposit from home is what sold me on them. It works great.
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