EveryJoe » Bank of America

Bank of America’s Debit Card Fee

Stephen Kersey — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 16:49:48 +0000

Bank of America received $45 billion in bailout money, however that hasn’t stopped the company from finding new ways to milk the most money out of their customers. On Friday, Bank of America announced a new debit card fee that will charge customers $5 per month simply for using their debit cards.

The debit card fee will begin in the first few months of 2012. At first, Bank of America will start charging the debit card fee in only a few starts. Over time, the bank expects to make this a policy around the globe.

Are you willing to pay $5 per month just for using your debit card? I know I’m not. I’ll find a bank that won’t look for every opportunity to steal money from me. It just doesn’t make any sense: use your debit card once for a $2 purchase and get charged $5 on top? No thanks, Bank of America.

Why is Bank of America charging a debit card fee? They say it’s a response to the new regulations that have limited how much they can charge merchants per debit card transaction. I don’t buy it.

Bank of America Debit Card Fees

Post from: EveryJoe

Obama’s Jobs Summit; Jobless Claims Drop

Miranda Marquit — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 17:46:39 +0000

Even with the fact that today the news came in that jobless claims have dropped to a one-year low, the reality is that this is the worst job market in right around 26 years. So, even as the picture starts to improve, things still need to be happening to stimulate job creation. And, as a result, president Barack Obama is convening a jobs summit.

Gathering 130 people together — business people, union leaders, and economists — at the White House is one way he hopes to get input on what can be done to increase the effectiveness of the jobs efforts in the stimulus package passed earlier this year. While there isn’t a whole lot that can be done immediately, there are hopes that measures and policies can be adopted to help move this economy in a direction that leads away from the dreaded “jobless recovery” and helps the employment picture for 2010.

There is also hope that improvement to the business outlook can translate into more jobs and maybe even raises. With Bank of America ready to repay TARP, and with other companies becoming profitable, there are hopes that hiring could start soon. But we will have to see. It may be that companies become too used to the profits they enjoy after cutting the workforce.

Image source: ~MVI~ via Flickr

Post from: EveryJoe

Using a Big Bank: Ripped Off by Fees

Miranda Marquit — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:59:30 +0000

One of the realities of banking is that there are fees involved. And, interestingly, the bigger the bank, the bigger the fees. It is rather frustrating to read about bailouts of big banks, only to find that very large percentages of their profits come from fees. So, not only are your taxes going to help prop up these big banks, but you also prop them up through the fees you pay. The Service Employees International Union estimates (since banks don’t reveal it) that J.P. Morgan Chase, Citigroup and Bank of America all make more than 70% of their profits from fees. That’s billions of dollars every year.

Indeed, fees are big business for banks, since they provide a way for them to make money and fund various ventures and enterprises with very little risk. Nomi Prins writes about bank fees in The Daily Beast:

In general, not only do big banks charge higher service fees for the luxury of taking your checking deposits and using them as capital for other ventures, but the interest they provide on these, and savings accounts, are comparatively abysmal relative to smaller banks. …

Overdraft charges are administered not only to people who don’t have enough money in their accounts to pay their bills, but also to customers who may keep enough money in their savings account, but get slapped for not transferring it at the appropriate moment to their meager-interest-rate checking account.

It is no surprise, then, that there is a movement toward using smaller, more local banks and credit unions. Many of the smaller banks offer more attractive rates, and charge lower fees. They do this in order to be competitive and draw your business. And, of course, many of the smaller banks and credit unions aren’t in the habit of making risky decisions. So subprime mortgages and other risky investments don’t need to be covered to as great an extent.

If you are looking at your finances and seeing that some of your money is being leeched away by bank fees, you might consider banking elsewhere. Just like any other product or service, you should shop around for the best deal.

Image source: Wikipedia

Post from: EveryJoe

Bank of America tightens small business loans

ShannonCherry — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 08:43:48 +0000

Credit may be getting harder to come by for small business owners as Bank of America announces more than $500 million dollars in charge offs of small business loans this past quarter. That’s up from $239 million in the third quarter of 2007.

What it means is that are cutting back on loans to small business – so much so that they have declined to #4 on the list of SBA lenders. In 2007, they were #1.

And I have a feeling they aren’t the only lender who will be more stringent in credit lending in the upcoming months.

It’s going extremely difficult to get an unsecured loan anywhere very soon.

So if you think you’re going to need a loan or line of credit, how will you try to get it?

Post from: EveryJoe