Last week Bank of America angered a great deal of its customer base when it announced that it will start assessing a $5 monthly fee for those who use a debit card, because of their need to make up for the reduced swipe fee charges they can now collect from merchants.
On the surface, the idea of reducing that swipe fee – part of the Dodd/Frank financial reform bill passed in Congress -should be a popular idea, as it helps out businesses, particularly small ones, who constantly complain that they are under siege from the government.
But apparently the legislators behind the move – led by Illinois Democratic U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, underestimated what the banks (besides BofA, other large banks such as J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo plan similar debit card fees) would due to recover lost revenue from the new policy.
Among those who supported what some are now calling "the Durban tax" is Florida GOP Senate aspirant, George LeMieux, who is being blasted by that vote from the Adam Hasner camp on Wednesday.
This article appears in Sep 29 – Oct 5, 2011.