Debit Cards carry a cost!

Bank of America will begin charging a fee to customers who use their debit cards to make purchase. As more people are reaching for a credit card instead of using cash the banks are loosing money. So by adding a charge for each month they use a debit card to make a purchase the bank is making money. According to yahoo.com, Bank of America is planning on implementing a $12/ month charge every month that a costumer makes a purchase with their debit cards. This will include paying bills with their cards. Bank of America is not the only bank doing this in the country, others are trying it out with cheaper charges then Bank of America. To read the full article and the AP's poll click here.

So what does this mean for the average person like myself, well if I went to Bank of America I would be having to fork over 12 extra dollars out of my salary to pay for a service that I have to use to pay bills. As not everything can be paid with cash, sometimes you have to use a debit card if you don't have a credit card to pay for services that you use on a regular basis. Every month people are having to pay for services such as their cell phones and netflix or get their service revoked or worse. So what happens if a family is on a very limited income and that $12 charge just pushed it over the limit?

So why do I react this way, well as a college aged male who is living on a limited income, this charge is just outrageous. I mean I understand that the banks need to gain some income but by creating charges for using a card to PROMOTE using it sounds like reverse marketing to me. I would think that they should create an incentive to using the debit card over a credit card. If you look at advertisements you will notice that Chase gives so much cash back, or so many points every time you use your card to make a purchase. If the banks made an attempt to do something like this even if it was to put $5 in your account every month you use the provided service, they would make money in the long run because of how many people that would start using them. So is that $12 charge worth upsetting all the people? To the guys on top yes, but to me no.

As always this is my opinion.