Dayton Business Journal...
B of A to charge $5 monthly fee for debit card usage
by Adam O’Daniel
Thursday, September 29, 2011 

BofA will charge the monthly fee to debit card holders that use the card to make purchases. It won’t be charged if the card is used only at ATMs or not used at all, spokeswoman Anne Pace said. 

BofA has several home loan branches in the Dayton region and recently bought the largest downtown Dayton office tower. 

All of the bank’s basic checking accounts will carry the fee, including the bank’s MyAccess, Essentials, E-banking and Enhanced accounts. Customers with high-end accounts linked to investment accounts at Merrill Lynch    will be given courtesy debit card use with no fees. 

The move comes as banks seek to recoup revenue lost because of new industry regulations. Wells Fargo    and Atlanta-based SunTrust    are experimenting with debit card monthly fees for some accounts, too. 

Among the lost revenue opportunities: Banks ability to charge interchange fees to retailers every time a debit card is swiped has been crimped by the Durbin Amendment of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform bill. Banks had charged on average 44 cents per transaction. Now, they can charge only on average 24 cents per card swipe. 

Additionally, banks can no longer automatically enroll customers in overdraft protection services, a lucrative business that charged card holders up to $35 for overdrawing their accounts... 

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