Thank Your Nearest Democrat: Your Bank is About to Jack Up Your Debit Card Fee

It’s really remarkable, that two of the people involved in the housing collapse were even allowed to author a law that deals with the economic collapsed that followed. Dodd-Frank bears the name of former Sen. Chris Dodd, who benefited from a sweetheart mortgage deal, and Rep. Barney Frank, who did everything he could to prevent any reform of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as they were going down, taking the housing market with them. But that’s where we are, and we’re about to pay for it:

Bank of America customers with basic checking accounts will be hit with a $5 monthly fee in order to use a debit card for purchases, the bank announced Thursday.

Banks and card companies have been aggressively establishing and raising fees in recent weeks as banks plan for new rules taking effect Saturday that limit the amount they can charge retailers for each debit card purchase.

JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo are testing $3 fees for debit cards in select areas, and Citibank recently announced it is raising its fees for checking accounts. Janney Montgomery Scott analyst Thomas McCrohan said last week that Visa and MasterCard, the top two debit card companies, may increase drastically increase fees on small purchases to offset the losses.

“The economics of offering a debit card have changed with recent regulations, and we’ve decided to introduce a monthly fee for customers who use their debit cards for purchases,” Anne Pace, a spokeswoman for Bank of America, told Bloomberg News.

Fees will be assessed starting in January and clients with premium accounts will not be affected, Pace said. Customers who use their debit card solely to receive cash at ATMs will not be charged.

For what it’s worth, and for some people $60 a year to handle their own money is quite a bit, 12 Senate Republicans helped pass this foul law. They are:

Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga.
Johnny Isakson, R-Ga.
Richard Lugar, R-Ind.
Charles Grassley, R-Iowa
David Vitter, R-La.
Scott Brown, R-Mass.
Susan Collins, R-Maine
Olympia Snowe, R-Maine
Richard Burr, R-N.C.
Lindsay Graham, R-S.C.
John Barasso, R-Wyo.
Mike Enzi, R-Wyo.