Reply #12: The Durbin Amendment to the Dodd/Frank Finance Reform bill. [View All]

[Ruby the Liberal]

They probably thought it was a given due to how much press it has gotten.

Before, banks could charge a fee + % of debit transactions. The Durbin amendment lowered it to a max flat fee (IIRC, $0.12 per transaction). Prior, the average fee was around $0.20-ish, so the banks are using every loophole they can find to make up the difference.

One thing floted b Bank of America a few months ago was to cancel Debit cards as Debit cards and have all "Debit" transactions run through as credit cards (in a hybrid plan), which still have their fees intact. People were howling about this because the money wouldn't come right out of their checking as they go (like debit) they would be hit with the full balance once each month (like credit) from their checking with no ability to make payments (the hybrid). Too easy to lose track of your balance if you are used to ongoing debit charges hitting the account as they incur, so BAC dropped it for this plan.