SunTrust Banks Inc. - one of the last holdouts in the debit card fee debate - has eliminated its monthly fee, citing customer feedback, bank officials said today.
The $5 monthly fee will no longer be charged on the bank's Everyday Checking account beginning Wednesday, and all clients who have already incurred fees will receive a full refund.
"We've listened to our clients' feedback and will provide the convenience and security of check cards at no additional charge as part of all of our checking accounts," Brad Dinsmore, the Atlanta bank's head of consumer banking and private wealth management, said in a statement.
Customers won't need to take any action to receive their refunds; those will happen automatically over the next month, he said.
Some big banks implemented debit card fees this summer and fall in response to new regulations that cap the "swipe fees" merchants pay banks when customers make purchases with their cards.
But those charges have fueled outrage from customers and politicians. Charlotte-based Bank of America Corp., which has received the brunt of the criticism since announcing its planned $5 monthly fee Sept. 29, will likely scale back those charges, a person familiar with the situation said Friday.
Meanwhile, other banks have steered clear or scrapped plans for similar fees. On Friday, New York-based JPMorgan Chase & Co. and San Francisco-based Wells Fargo & Co., which had been testing debit card fees in some markets, said they decided against implementing the charges.
Monday, October 31, 2011
SunTrust is latest bank to scrap debit fees
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12 comments:
Very smart move in the current economy. However, the regulations that cut merchant fee limits on debit cards will have some implications in banks bottom lines...people seem to forget that the government is ultimate;y behind all of this mess. But passing the costs to banks onto customers was not the answer.
Too late. Already moved to a local credit union when you announced all the new fees. Good riddance!
The banks and the retard repubs are responsible for the fees thanks to deregulation.
Anon 2:13..
LAst I recall, Hugh McColl was a fat Democrat.
He started deregulation of banking back in the 80's.
Also, I believe it was the Democrats Dodd & Frank who caused the latest bank fees to go us...
anonymous at 2:13 - do your research before your spout off ignornant comments - it is the recent increase in regulations that sparked the need for *testing* of debit card fees. Badly timed by the banks - yes, but get your facts before you post...
My gas station won't pump my gas, AND they charge me for air now! WAH!
"Anonymous Anonymous said...
The banks and the retard repubs are responsible for the fees thanks to deregulation.
October 31, 2011 2:13 PM"
And the freemarket told these banks it was dumb to raise the fees. When the banks are run by the government you will have no choice but to pay what they dictate or don't bank at all and probably like obamacare there will be a penalty side if you don't use bank of obama and a waiver side if you are friends of obama.
Some of you idiots should remind yourselves that you're doing the bank a favor by allowing them to hold your money, not the other way around. Declining deposits equals declining capitalization ratio, and last I checked none of these bankrupt institutions (majority of the banking industry) can afford to lose a primary source of tier 1 capital. End ZIRP, restore interest paid on deposits,and maybe people will keep their money in your TBTF bank. Then again, returning to that business model would involve an honest day's work from that most privileged and pampered of all welfare classes, the bankster.
Last time I looked there are a whole family of fees and add-ons to phone bills, cell phone bills, cable bills, water bills, gas bills, power bills, etc. Shoot, Redbox just raised their prices by a whopping 20%. Where's the outrage people? And lastly, banks actually paid back their bailout with a +5% profit to the government. Where's the fairness in the outrage! Next time you use online banking or bill pay, just remember there's a cost to doing business. Ain't nothing free. And the Credit Unions are tax exempt, which is an outrage in itself. Who's paying for that status? You and me that's who. An outrage I tell you, an outrage.
The banks paid back their TARP funds with profits from 0% interest spreads (borrow at 0%, buy UST etc, pocket the yield), not to mention the circular bailouts via AIG and Freddie/Fannie you dimwit. I wonder who's footing the bill for those policies, hmmmmm?
Here's a quick breakdown of bailout recpients and paybacks for the factually impaired:
http://projects.propublica.org/bailout/list
Recipients:
926
Total Committed:
$633,575,722,738
Total Disbursed:
$580,129,264,483
Total Returned:
$277,870,128,837
Nice move sparky. Banks. Banks. Top banks received 170B, paid back 170B or 100% plus a profit of nearly 23B. Cloudy message with entire population of all financial institutions including banks.
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