Bank of America to charge debit cardholders $5 monthly fee

Bank of
America (BofA) is to hit debit cardholders with a $5 monthly fee
from early 2012.

With the Dodd-Frank
Durbin amendment capping debit card processing fees at $0.21 per
transaction, coming into force on 1 October, US banks have been
eyeing up ways to offset a forecast $6bn a year in lost
revenue.

BofA has said it faces a
revenue hit of up to $2bn a year; Wells Fargo said it will lose
revenue of up to $1bn.

In August, Wells Fargo said
it would charge debit cardholders a fee of $3 a month from October
in a number of US states.

Atlanta-based
SunTrust Banks has also introduced a monthly fee of $4.

In addition to
trialing a monthly debit card fee of $3, Chase stopped giving
rewards points on debit card purchases from 19 July.

Chase withdrew its
loyalty scheme – with 3% cash-back its debit scheme was one of the
most generous options offered by any US lender – for new customers
in February.

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