Chase, Citigroup Drop Debit Card Charges After Bank of America Backlash
Around four weeks after Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) was afforded a veritable battering from politicians and consumers alike regarding proposed new debit card fees, the majority of other major US banks have heeded the warning and taken a step away from similar charges.
After an extensive period of testing, JP Morgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) have decided that customers will not be charged for using their debit cards, according to an inside industry source. The Bank’s Chase unit is one of the largest consumer banks in the US, with 3,300 branches and over 26 million checking accounts.
As such, JP Morgan Chase has now joined the likes of PNC, KeyCorp, Citigroup and U.S Bancorp among others, which have said over recent days that they will not be introducing the proposed monthly fees on debit cards. However, none of the bank in question have stated that their decision was based on the backlash regarding Bank of America.
Instead, it has been claimed that such an initiative simply does not ‘fit in’ with current overall strategies.
Bank of America was looking into the idea of charging customers $5 per month for using debit cards, which is the standard rate also in place at SunTrust. Wells Fargo on the other hand is current considering the addition of a $3 monthly fee for card use.
In a statement from Wells Fargo, a spokesperson recently stated that the bank is regularly reviewing pricing in order to remain fair and the any increase would be justified in relation to the running costs of the businesses.
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