Comments on: Weekly Roundup – BOA To End Overdraft Fees On Debit Transactions

By: Unautomate Your Finances Reviews, Praise, & Results

Unautomate Your Finances Reviews, Praise, & Results — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 20:17:55 +0000

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By: David Wilcoxson

David Wilcoxson — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:32:06 +0000

I agree with you. If I don’t have the money in my checking account and try to make a charge with my debit card, just decline the transaction instead of accepting it and charging me a $39 overdraft fee. It’s amazing how much money banks make on fees, like late fees, overdraft fees and over-limit fees.

By: Financial Uproar

Financial Uproar — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 07:52:25 +0000

I think that any bank, provided the customer signs up for it, should be able to offer overdraft. If I was a BoA shareholder, I’d be angry that they are just abandoning such a good money maker.

I just wrote a post about it, I invite your readers to check it out.

By: Debie

Debie — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 19:22:30 +0000

This is just another BOA “aren’t we wonderful” moment. They are only doing this because their software does not allow them to meet the compliance needed for the CARD act changes. Believe me, if they could have waited and corrected thier software at less cost, that’s what would have happened.

Having worked for a long time in this industry on the software side, I know this is not BOA being a “great bank”.

By: moneyhoneysf

moneyhoneysf — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 21:28:37 +0000

I have BOA and they are a great bank. They’re always a pioneer for change.

I’m sure other big banks will follow suit before risking to lose customers.

By: sarah

sarah — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:25:58 +0000

What bugs me about all this is the attention that BOA (one of the least consumer-friendly banks in the country, if one believes all the complaints) is the attention, as if they were doing something virtuous.

They should never have allowed overdrafts on debit cards to begin with. A debit card is not a credit card.

You can be certain that they are indeed doing lots of other stuff to ensure that they make money.

All of these banks acting like they are really trying to help consumers. What a croc.

They almost all raised rates, on even their best customers, before the new changes went into affect. Not to mention many instituted new fees.

By: Frugal Dad

Frugal Dad — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:09:50 +0000

@Sid and Another Scott: You both make a good point about the unintended consequences of this move. Or perhaps a better description is the undesirable consequences, from a consumer point of view.

In fact, the entire CARD Act that recent came to pass will have unintended/undesirable consquences as banks and credit card issuers look for new ways to produce revenue. After all, you didn’t think they were just going to make less money, did you?!

By: Budget Gal Angie

Budget Gal Angie — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:03:44 +0000

There’s nothing that bugs me more than being charged a $35 overdraft fee on an item under $10. Thankfully my bank will usually waive the fee as long as it’s been several months between fees.

It’s time that we take responsibility for our accounts and balance them so we know how much money we have.

By: Another Scott

Another Scott — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:30:26 +0000

Of course the overdraft fee was silly, but it was also completely avoidable with a little bit of diligence. I was okay with less diligent people providing me with a free checking account. Now as Bank of America looks for other fees to make up for the lost revenue, I might have to look for another bank. And moving accounts is always a hassle. Let’s file this under “be careful what you wish for…”

By: myfinancialobjectives

myfinancialobjectives — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:04:41 +0000

Hopefully other card companies will follow suit. Most people nowadays have more than one card. If their debt/check card fails, switch to a new card. I think that’s better than ending up with a $30 overdraft fee. Especially if you don’t check your bank account for a few days and go on spending.