It seems as if recent increases in back fees are causing people to change from the major banks to more small business banks. Banks that received a lot of scrutiny included Bank of America, Citigroup, and Chase Bank
"Prime targets: Banks of America, which slapped a $5 monthly fee on debit cards, and Citigroup (C,Fortune 500), which will start charging $20 a month for some checking customers who don't maintain a $15,000 balance on their combined accounts."I dropped Bank of America like a hot potato," said Tim O'Brien a partner in a Seattle-based television advertising agency. "I felt like I was getting nickel and dimed."
Many bank customers feel as if these big banks are taking advantage of them and they have had enough. A man who took his business to a small business bank said of it."They rolled out the red carpet for us," O'Brien said. "The difference really is amazing."
The banks defend these increases because they are dealing with a new cap on the fees they can charge retailers when customers swipe their debit cards.
"While banks used to charge an average fee of 44 cents, now the maximum is 21 cents. They are looking for a way to make up the difference. Smaller banks -- those with less than $10 billion in assets -- are exempt from the new regulation. No matter the reason -- there isn't a lot of sympathy for banks."
As someone who was considering opening up a Bank of America account I think I might have to think twice about this. I barely have money as it is, and at this stage every dollar counts. Unortunately small business banks dont have many ATM's in the area, so as of now it seems that i may have to be at the mercy of a Big Bank.
I think there is a hartford community bank ATM inside the security office which is just down the street from north. We are all at the mercy of big banks due to the way our financial system is structured.
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