Bank of America is about to lose another customer.

[KY,Dave (AKA Misunderstood)]

Only real benefit is that with a debit your using your money and will probably think twice before spending. Using a credit card is like anesthesia (sp?) and since you don't feel anything when using most people tend to spend more then they would otherwise..

I have heard all the folks that claim they pay it off at the end of the month but like a car salesmen,  I tend not to believe them.  Debit cards control those types of impulses that get Americans into trouble.  I have not used a CC in over 25 years and am completely debt free and enjoying every minute of it and if I'm gone from home over 30 days or so I do not have to worry about paying some CC bill.   

 

Belive me or not makes no difference to me. I haven't paid interest on a cc in 15 plus years now. The first time you don't pay it in full starts the interest process.

[KY,Dave (AKA Misunderstood)]

My argument for using a credit card(paid in full each month), vs using a debit card:

When we travel, I prefer to use my credit card.  In the unlikely event that someone steals my debit card, or gets ahold of my debit card information....my bank balance is at risk.  Sure I can probably contact the bank and go through the process of getting those transactions removed but the entire time, the thief will have the money in my checking account.  And some banks don't offer the same protection for fraudulent charges on a debit card as they do on a credit card.

Now, if that happens on my credit card.....I call, let them know about the fraud....and start working through getting it resolved.  None of my bank balance is involved until I ultimately have to pay the balance on the credit card at the end of the month(which by that point should have any fraudulent charges removed).

Debit cards have their place, as I use mine almost daily, but there are plenty of times that using a credit card makes more sense.

-Scott

Scott, That's exactly how I felt until it was explained to me that you can actually have a debiy card like the perk street one I linked which is has a visa logo and tell them to run it as a credit card. It's still a debit card but will have the same protection as a cc when run as credit. When the merchant asks debit or credit you simply say credit and it gets run that way.

[Jack]

Citi-bank has announced a $20/month fee on accounts that fall below their minimum.  I think I plan to start stuffing my mattress.

[Varmintmist]

FYI on the charges:

“It’s disappointing and puzzling that the President would attack a private corporation for responding to government price fixing that has fundamentally altered the economics of offering a debit card,” Keating said in “Morning Money.” “As a direct result of the Durbin Amendment, consumers have started paying for financial services they previously enjoyed free of charge. Unfortunately, this proves that whenever government tries to control pricing of a product or service, consumers lose.”
.............
Republican Rep. Tom Price of Georgia shot back at Durbin in a tweet, saying, “Had Sen. Durbin read the Dodd-Frank bill, he would have known the cost of debit cards would go up. His action, our sad consequence.”

................

 Bank of America spokesperson Lawrence Di Rita said “most of the major banks in the United States are moving toward assigning a charge for debit card use.”

“New regulations on debit card interchange fees - which provide no apparent benefit to consumers - will further reduce revenue by additional billions of dollars,” Di Rita told “Morning Money.” “Our new fee structure will restore a portion of that lost revenue through clear and transparent pricing, and help us to continue providing secure and efficient methods of payment for our customers.”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1011/65086_Page2.html#ixzz1ZpkASHgA

A provision of the massive Dodd-Frank Act that could have among the biggest monetary impacts on banks is one that was added unexpectedly at the last minute and that has nothing to do with the economic crisis that the Act is supposed to address.

http://www.calbankers.com/compliance-bulletin/analysis-dodd-frank-act-durbin-amendment-debit-card-interchange-fee-regulation

If we had a “Dim Bulb of the Year” award, we would give it to Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. How better to honor someone who so ostentatiously proposes a policy with obvious unintended consequences, then gets angry when they predictably come to pass?

Read more at the San Francisco Examiner: http://www.sfexaminer.com/opinion/editorials/2011/10/durbin-fees-are-coming-thanks-congress?category=1529#ixzz1ZpnPhZHU

Hmm, you increase the cost of doing something or, in this case, regulate that the costs get directly passed to the consumer.

[Serk]

FYI on the charges:

“It’s disappointing and puzzling that the President would attack a private corporation for responding to government price fixing that has fundamentally altered the economics of offering a debit card,” Keating said in “Morning Money.” “As a direct result of the Durbin Amendment, consumers have started paying for financial services they previously enjoyed free of charge. Unfortunately, this proves that whenever government tries to control pricing of a product or service, consumers lose.”
.............
Republican Rep. Tom Price of Georgia shot back at Durbin in a tweet, saying, “Had Sen. Durbin read the Dodd-Frank bill, he would have known the cost of debit cards would go up. His action, our sad consequence.”

................

 Bank of America spokesperson Lawrence Di Rita said “most of the major banks in the United States are moving toward assigning a charge for debit card use.”

“New regulations on debit card interchange fees - which provide no apparent benefit to consumers - will further reduce revenue by additional billions of dollars,” Di Rita told “Morning Money.” “Our new fee structure will restore a portion of that lost revenue through clear and transparent pricing, and help us to continue providing secure and efficient methods of payment for our customers.”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1011/65086_Page2.html#ixzz1ZpkASHgA

A provision of the massive Dodd-Frank Act that could have among the biggest monetary impacts on banks is one that was added unexpectedly at the last minute and that has nothing to do with the economic crisis that the Act is supposed to address.

http://www.calbankers.com/compliance-bulletin/analysis-dodd-frank-act-durbin-amendment-debit-card-interchange-fee-regulation

If we had a “Dim Bulb of the Year” award, we would give it to Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. How better to honor someone who so ostentatiously proposes a policy with obvious unintended consequences, then gets angry when they predictably come to pass?

Read more at the San Francisco Examiner: http://www.sfexaminer.com/opinion/editorials/2011/10/durbin-fees-are-coming-thanks-congress?category=1529#ixzz1ZpnPhZHU

Hmm, you increase the cost of doing something or, in this case, regulate that the costs get directly passed to the consumer.

Best analogy I've seen... You pass a law telling restaurants they can't charge anything for soft drinks, and then act shocked when they raise the price of a cheeseburger?

[The Anvil]

The idea that corporation "do not pay taxes but only collect them" is a right wing fallacy. Overhead is not the only thing that determines the price that is charged for a product or service. The largest effect on the price of a product or service is supply and demand and what the market will bear (aka: the most people are willing to pay for that product or service). The idea that taxes will be passed directly on to consumers is flat wrong. That will only happen in arenas where demand outstrips supply or where a company has an effective monopoly or collusion is present.

Companies will always engage in price wars and competition and as long as the consumer holds the upper hand taxes will come out of profits, not be made up for by higher consumer costs. Why do you think corporations fight taxes so hard? It's not because they care about YOU. 

[musclehead]

Where's the joke? Washington is the whore of big money.

well let's fix that

www.fairtax.org

That would be like trying to fix the Hindenburg, commentary and all.

the fair tax would pull half the teeth that the lobbyists have sunk in our politicians.
tired of loop holes and shelters?
tired of 'special interest'?

or what would you like to do? more of the same?

[musclehead]

The idea that corporation "do not pay taxes but only collect them" is a right wing fallacy. Overhead is not the only thing that determines the price that is charged for a product or service. The largest effect on the price of a product or service is supply and demand and what the market will bear (aka: the most people are willing to pay for that product or service). The idea that taxes will be passed directly on to consumers is flat RIGHT. That will only happen in arenas where demand outstrips supply or where a company has an effective monopoly or collusion is present.

Companies will always engage in price wars and competition and as long as the consumer holds the upper hand taxes will come out of profits, not be made up for by higher consumer costs. Why do you think corporations fight taxes so hard? It's not because they care about YOU. 

I'll say it again reeaalll slowly
taxes are part of the cost of doing business
I've always said businesses exist to make a profit and STAY IN BUSINESS

[MP]

The idea that corporation "do not pay taxes but only collect them" is a right wing fallacy. Overhead is not the only thing that determines the price that is charged for a product or service. The largest effect on the price of a product or service is supply and demand and what the market will bear (aka: the most people are willing to pay for that product or service). The idea that taxes will be passed directly on to consumers is flat RIGHT. That will only happen in arenas where demand outstrips supply or where a company has an effective monopoly or collusion is present.

Companies will always engage in price wars and competition and as long as the consumer holds the upper hand taxes will come out of profits, not be made up for by higher consumer costs. Why do you think corporations fight taxes so hard? It's not because they care about YOU.  

I'll say it again reeaalll slowly
taxes are part of the cost of doing business
I've always said businesses exist to make a profit and STAY IN BUSINESS

+1

I am in business. Taxes are a cost of doing that business, just like fuel, labor, etc.  Mix them up however you want, but at the end of the day, I need to make a profit.  If the profit is not there, I will either quit, or the bankrupcy court will quit for me!  LOL

The reason they fight taxes and regulations so hard, is that their competition, ie overseas producers, usually do NOT have those costs.

Progressives continually decry moving jobs overseas, blaming the corporations.  What else can they do?  We keep ladling costs from regulation, taxes, rules, unions, on them here, but their competition does NOT have those costs.  Thus, the overseas product is cheaper.

If it costs me $5.00 to make a product, before profit, here, but my overseas competition can make it for $4.00, I am toast.  So I have to either move overseas, or go out of business.

That is what has been happening for 30-40 years here.  As we keep adding costs to our producers, more and more jobs will move out of the country.

Anyone remember WalMarts ads talking about "buying American" products?  Have not seen them for a long time, have you?  That is because the cost of imports is lower, due to our high costs.

MP

[The Anvil]

The idea that corporation "do not pay taxes but only collect them" is a right wing fallacy. Overhead is not the only thing that determines the price that is charged for a product or service. The largest effect on the price of a product or service is supply and demand and what the market will bear (aka: the most people are willing to pay for that product or service). The idea that taxes will be passed directly on to consumers is flat RIGHT. That will only happen in arenas where demand outstrips supply or where a company has an effective monopoly or collusion is present.

Companies will always engage in price wars and competition and as long as the consumer holds the upper hand taxes will come out of profits, not be made up for by higher consumer costs. Why do you think corporations fight taxes so hard? It's not because they care about YOU. 

I'll say it again reeaalll slowly

You're still wrong, you're just taking longer to be that way.

Again, that's a fallacy that you've bought into much to the delight of the people who've been telling it to you.

[Serk]

Seems BOFA saw the error of their ways, on this one issue at least... We're still considering hopping to USAA, but at least they backed down on this for now...

http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2011/11/01/report-bank-america-scraps-5-monthly-debit-card-fee/

[Jess Tolbirt]

i did go to USAA,,, with regions now but will cut them off,,

[Cruzen]

I am in business. Taxes are a cost of doing that business, just like fuel, labor, etc.  Mix them up however you want, but at the end of the day, I need to make a profit.  If the profit is not there, I will either quit, or the bankrupcy court will quit for me!  LOL

The reason they fight taxes and regulations so hard, is that their competition, ie overseas producers, usually do NOT have those costs.

Progressives continually decry moving jobs overseas, blaming the corporations.  What else can they do?  We keep ladling costs from regulation, taxes, rules, unions, on them here, but their competition does NOT have those costs.  Thus, the overseas product is cheaper.

If it costs me $5.00 to make a product, before profit, here, but my overseas competition can make it for $4.00, I am toast.  So I have to either move overseas, or go out of business.

That is what has been happening for 30-40 years here.  As we keep adding costs to our producers, more and more jobs will move out of the country.

Anyone remember WalMarts ads talking about "buying American" products?  Have not seen them for a long time, have you?  That is because the cost of imports is lower, due to our high costs.

MP

+1

The only way this will ever be fixed is if Congress gets smart and places an import tax, call it a cost of doing business in the US or whatever makes you feel good,  on every item based on the pay scale and benefit differential between the country of origin and the US.  That tax would then be used to pay all unemployed workers.  It would only take a few years before the jobs would get moved back here.

[Jack]

I read today that BoA had changed their minds about the charge due to "consumer comment."

[Cruzen]

I read today that BoA had changed their minds about the charge due to "consumer comment."

Maybe they subscribe to this board.