Savings Account & MMA Rates
CD (Certificate of Deposit) RatesJust A few more thoughts on yesterday’s post about Bank of America’s lost revenue.
Of course Bank of America chief executive Brian Moynihan isn’t going to let us keep our $4.3 billion without a fight.
“The Charlotte, N.C. lender is scrambling to raise fees on some customer accounts or encourage the use of more bank services to offset the losses,” according to the Wall Street Journal.
Or, as the hometown Charlotte Observer put it: “Bank of America customers will see quite a few changes in coming months, from higher minimum balances to ‘transformational new products’ in checking, as the bank figures out how to make up revenue it will lose as sweeping new regulations take effect.”
Moynihan told the Observer that the bank is simply changing its approach to fees.
Since the government is making it more difficult to nail a relatively few customers with big penalty fees, the bank will try to charge a broader range of customers more for the privilege of having an account, or taking advantage of routine services.
“We had a small percentage of our customers paying a good chunk of the fees, and when you looked at it in hindsight, it’s not the right way to treat them,” Moynihan said, referring to overdraft charges.
So far, Bank of America has been pretty vague about its plans, suggesting that it will do such things as require higher minimum balances on checking accounts to avoid monthly maintenance charges.
The closest thing to a “transformational product” we’ve seen is the new eBanking checking account that’s being rolled out over the next month.
It allows customers to avoid a $8.95 a monthly fee if they’re willing to be a cheaper customer by getting all of their statements online and never visiting a bank to talk to a teller.
All of this means Bank of America customers will have to keep a sharp eye out for “change of terms” letters over the next six to 12 months to make sure they know all of the new rules, and where all of the new fees will lurk.
(4 votes, average: 4.50 out of 5)
Loading ...