Dayton Business Journal...
BofA makes it harder to waive debit card fee
by Mark Calvey
Saturday, October 22, 2011 

Bank of America Corp. will make it harder for customers to waive the unpopular $5 monthly debit card fee going into effect next year. 

The Charlotte-based bank is eliminating the Advantage checking account program, which required just $5,000 in checking and savings deposits to waive the fee. It will now take at least $20,000 in deposits and investment account balances to avoid the debit card fee as part of the bank’s “Premium solutions” offering. 

Customers holding a mortgage with Bank of America will also be able to waive the fee, the Charlotte Observer reported Thursday. 

BofA has several home loan branches in the Dayton region and recently bought the largest downtown Dayton office tower. 

Bank CEO Brian Moynihan said this week that the new fee is designed to spur customers to bring more of their business to the bank. 

But his comments come amid a public backlash against the debit card fee. 

Community banks and credit unions see an opening to win over big-bank customers. Urbana-based The Peoples Savings Bank for the next three months will pay customers $5 per month per account for using their debit card. 

Conversely, San Francisco-based Wells Fargo & Co.    is testing a $3 monthly debit card fee in select markets — and JPMorgan Chase & Co.    also is testing debit card fees. But BofA has become a lightning rod for the issue. 

Bank investor Tom Brown says on his Web site, BankStocks.com, that many customers will be able to avoid the debit card fee and other fees by using direct deposit, maintaining “nominal” minimum balances or simply not using their debit cards for purchases. 

“The people who will be affected the most are the ones who can least afford it: low-income consumers,” Brown said of the new fee. 

Read this and other articles at the Dayton Business Journal