Personal Finance Buzz

Not too long ago, consumers were up in arms about the bank fees charged by Bank of America. Indeed, some major banks toyed with the idea of adding a debit card fee. With consumers fresh off the anger of taxpayer-funded bailouts of major banks, additional fees didn’t go over too well. However, banks continue to moan about regulation and falling revenues (the big banks still make billions of dollars a year) and unhappy stockholders.

Last year congress passed a bill that empowered the Fed to cap the fees large banks charge retailers for debit card transactions. As a result, big banks have lost a significant source of revenue and have responded by increasing the fees.

Even if your bank isn’t adding new fees, you should double check your bank statement for fees that might be charged to you. Also, make sure to read correspondence from your bank; the terms and conditions of your account may be changing.

Credit card transaction fees cost everyone. We know this. But credit card fees cost even more than you thought. On top of paying fees in their lives as consumers, Canadian taxpayers are paying more credit card fees through costs to the government.

Banks have become more and more focused in the last few years on revenue from fees. Fees bring in billions of dollars for banks, and they aren’t going to stop looking for ways to raise them — no matter how profitable they are.

New credit card fees are coming. Sure the Credit CARD Act provides some consumer protections. But credit card issuers are rushing to fill the gap.

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Almost everyone who uses a debit card is somehow impacted by high fees. Businesses are charged fees for offering the service and they pass those fees on to consumers. Recent legislation in the USA seeks to limit the amount that card companies can charge merchants which is a win for the businesses but a loss in profit potential for the card companies.