Since the recession, Americans have been wary of getting into any debt. Credit card use has gone down, and consumers are focusing their attention on saving as much as they can. Bank of America and Wells Fargo have noticed this trend and found a new way to make some money off of their frugal customers. Debit card customers with Bank of America will have to pay a $5 monthly card usage fee, and Wells Fargo's customers will have to pay an extra $3 every month to keep using their debit card. These new fees have already been slammed by many consumer advocates, and even President Obama weighed in on the issue, saying, “Banks can make money. They can succeed, the old-fashioned way, by earning it.” Ouch.
Here is my biggest problem with Bank of America and Wells Fargo implementing these fees. Usually when a company adds a fee to their service, the customer knows what this money is going towards. Even in the case of the Netflix price hike, I understood that they were trying to get the streaming rights to more movies and keep Starz while attracting other networks to give them exclusive streaming. If Bank of America and Wells Fargo are going to add on new fees, then they should tell the customer where this money is going. Will they waive ATM transaction fees? Will there be more Bank of America ATMs across the country? What advantage will Bank of America and Wells Fargo customers have that they didn't have before?
Bank of America has made headlines in this blog numerous times because of their poor customer relations and notoriously bad business practices. This is yet another reason why Bank of America customers should switch to another bank, and Wells Fargo customers should consider switching as well. After all, what are Bank of America or Wells Fargo doing that another bank or credit union couldn't do just as well and without the fees?
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