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BofA: Debit card $5 fee was big error $5 card surcharge was a mistake, Brian Moynihan concedes Promises more transparency in the future
Bank of America canceled plans for a $5 monthly debit card fee a month after proposing the idea, following backlash from customers and politicians. DAVID MCNEW/GETTY IMAGES
Bank of America Corp. learned a lesson from its abandoned debit card fee and will work to provide transparency and fair pricing to customers while producing a return for shareholders, Chief Executive Brian Moynihan said yesterday. The bank and its peers are updating product offerings even as they “address new regulations that have reduced our revenues in this business,” he said. Consumer banking will become a “smaller platform” at Bank of America and derive its profitability from lower expenses and deeper relationships with customers, Moynihan said. Bank of America is testing
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new account packages where customers won’t pay fees if they do significant business with the bank, he said. Customers can avoid fees by using direct deposit for their paycheck, using a Bank of America credit card or taking out a mortgage with the bank, he said. In another move to build capital, Bank of America said it was selling most of the remaining shares it owns in China Construction Bank Corp.
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Consumers leaving credit cards unpaid NEW
YORK. Credit card delinquencies in the third quarter of this year increased nationwide for the first time since the fourth quarter of 2009, according to credit monitoring agency TransUnion.
The proportion of borrowers who are 90 or more days past due on their bills inched up from 0.6 percent to 0.71 percent, with the average credit card debt per borrower increasing by $63 in the quarter to $4,762. Despite the uptick, TransUnion says delinquency rates remain near an alltime low overall.
Economy looking up WASHINGTON. The U.S. econ-
Protesters demonstrate at a Bank of America in Los Angeles.
omy showed signs it maintained speed into the fourth quarter as retail sales rose in October and a gauge of manufacturing in New York state showed
growth this month for the first time since May. Other data yesterday showed muted price pressures at the factory level. That should provide the Federal Reserve with ammunition to give more aid to the economy in the face of increased threat to the recovery from Europe’s debt crisis. REUTERS
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