On Thursday, U.S. PIRG Consumer Program Director Ed Mierzwinski wrote a blog post titled “Latest reason Bank of America is bad for America—coming to your account, $5/month debit card fees.” Mierzwinski, a long-time consumer advocate, wrote that “the Durbin swipe fee amendment is good for consumers” and encouraged bank customers to vote with their feet:
“Consumers can switch to small banks or credit unions—which are not expected to copycat this fee. PIRG’s Bank Fee Tips. To date, big banks haven’t had to worry about people voting with their feet but maybe this is “a fee too far” or a “fee too high” and they will start worrying. Recall that earlier this year Chase tested a $5 ATM surcharge in Illinois—then dropped it.”
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“The Durbin swipe fee amendment is good for consumers. Merchants will pass along their savings because retail is competitive—if they don’t pass savings along they will lose business. The amendment will also encourage the growth of less-risky PIN-based, instead of fraud-prone signature, debit card networks such as Visa/MC networks.”