B of A "Right to profit"

[Kenny]

Bank of America President Brian Moynihan defends their decision to add a $5 per month charge for using debit cards by saying they "have a right to make a profit". He is absolutely correct they have the right to make a profit...and I have the right to take my business somewhere that doesn't charge me for using MY money. Here's the link to the story: BofA's Moynihan: We have a 'right to make a profit' - Oct. 5, 2011

 

[Luke]

I have to agree with you there Kenny. I am planning to move to a local bank soon. B of A has horrible customer service too! The only reason I am still there is my work's direct deposit policy. You can only change accounts at certain times of year.

 

[2andalone]

I have been a B of A customer for 6 years and statements like that really make me mad. Of course you have a right to make a profit but I'm pretty sure you're already making a profit from overdraft fees you cause me by taking out money before putting it in, right?

 

[Jdrake]

I used to use Bank of America but there were too many problems. I could not take it anymore so I closed my account with them.

 

[KevinD]

Well guys, I'm not sure you get the whole story. The pressure the government put on them to purchase Countrywide a few years ago, was something that had effects that are still being felt big time today. Countrywide was a complete mess and so many people walked away from their mortgages. People that should've never had bought a home in the first place, got mortgages and then they quit paying when they saw their home values drop so much. The government is interfering with the banks so much and making it more difficult for them to make profits. I can't blame the banks entirely for this situation.

The millions of people that bought homes and quit paying or got credit cards and went out and bought huge screen tv's and racked up huge debt are to blame. The banks don't force people to have no money management skills or control over their spending. You borrow money, you pay it back. Many people didn't and then call the banks evil. If the bank has to keep creating fees because they are being pulled down by regulations by the government and people unwilling to pay money that THEY borrowed, then the bank has to do what needs to be done. It's a business, and the consumer isn't holding up their end of the contract they signed. Plain and simple.

About the 5 dollar fee. I think it's just to match their stock price that has been hammered to a pathetically low price. That's my humor for the day.

 

[Paranoid]

I get what you're saying KevinD but it still sucks. It sucks for those of us who are paying everything that we borrow. Some months $5 is a lot of money leftover at the end of the month.

 

[Salazar]

I can't speak for banking with BoA, but I have my mortgage with them. It gets paid, so I really don't have to deal with them or hear from them. So, no problems there.

However, I am apt to think they are still digging their own grave. My wife doesn't have the greatest credit thanks to some credit card antics when she was younger and BoA recently gave her a credit card with an enormous (seriously, huge) limit. I'm not worried about it, but if you looked at her credit history on paper, BoA should be. It just makes me wonder how many other people they're dishing out these limits to, people who maybe haven't learned responsibility yet. People who are going to end up defaulting.

 

[crowl]

Sorry that is dumb, you are using their service. Are you one of those people who use pay-pal and get agitated that they charge a fee for using their services? What about BOFA, I use them and I expect clean banks when I walk in, I expect envelopes in the ATM when I make a deposit on my way home from work. Who do you think pays for that? Me, their customer, from their fees.

And if someone is bad with managing their money, they deserve an overdraft fee. Sorry I guess I woke grumpy today but really, this debate is silly.

 

[Blake]

And if someone is bad with managing their money, they deserve an overdraft fee. Sorry I guess I woke grumpy today but really, this debate is silly.

If I overdraft then I do deserve an overdraft fee. The thing with a lot of banks is that they will take out all the credits first, give you overdrafts, then take care of the deposits. If they did all these things in the order in which they came in, there would be no overdraft. A bunch of people just sued them for this or something, I can't remember the exact outcome.

 

[jason]

Well guys, I'm not sure you get the whole story. The pressure the government put on them to purchase Countrywide a few years ago, was something that had effects that are still being felt big time today. Countrywide was a complete mess and so many people walked away from their mortgages. People that should've never had bought a home in the first place, got mortgages and then they quit paying when they saw their home values drop so much. The government is interfering with the banks so much and making it more difficult for them to make profits. I can't blame the banks entirely for this situation.

The millions of people that bought homes and quit paying or got credit cards and went out and bought huge screen tv's and racked up huge debt are to blame. The banks don't force people to have no money management skills or control over their spending. You borrow money, you pay it back. Many people didn't and then call the banks evil. If the bank has to keep creating fees because they are being pulled down by regulations by the government and people unwilling to pay money that THEY borrowed, then the bank has to do what needs to be done. It's a business, and the consumer isn't holding up their end of the contract they signed. Plain and simple.

About the 5 dollar fee. I think it's just to match their stock price that has been hammered to a pathetically low price. That's my humor for the day.

I thought this was more due to that the government made banks cut the fees they charge for processing credit/debit cards to business. Of course they are going to find ways to make that money back. Sadly, it is on the back of people now.

I agree with the people who do not like it leaving. One day though, I think all of them will do it. The days of freebies are disappearing. It may push more to credit unions.

 

[Jack]

They want to chisel these fees out of regular people, but their CEO gets to make billions and pay a lower tax rate than a regular person! Read Warren Buffet's tax disclosure in the NY Times to see what I'm talking about. He pays a lower tax rate than his secretary and thinks that is wrong. I do too.

 

[Johnson]

B of A is just trying to get the money the government told them they couldn't have anymore with the amount they get from merchants with debit. Any consumer with 1/2 a brain knew that they would turn around and p[ass that charge off to the customer which is exactly what they did. B of A certainly has a right to profit, but it won't be off my dime anymore. Blake and 2andalone I know exactly what you are talking about and Bof A is one of the worst about that.