Chase Won't Charge Debit Card Fee After Consumer Tests
![A Chase Bank Debit card](https://d.medicaldaily.com/en/full/221864/chase-bank-debit-card.jpg?w=450&f=69c7075e4a4467643852705a86f34235)
J.P. Morgan Chase customers can rest assured their debit accounts won’t see a monthly charge like Bank of America has put in place.
After eight months of consumer testing, Chase said it won’t charge customers who use their debit cards a $3 per month fee, according to reports. Bank of America shocked customers last month with their announcement they would begin charging customers a $5 monthly fee for using their debit cards.
"It's unfair for banks to stick consumers with a monthly fee just to use their own money," said Norma Garcia, manager of Consumers Union’s financial services program, in a statement. "The banks that charge debit card fees risk losing customers who are fed up with financial institutions that got bailed out that are now turning around and hiking fees."
Banks have opted to tack on fees onto customers’ accounts to recover billions in lost revenue from new restrictions on debit and credit cards. The Dodd-Frank financial overhaul law reduced the amount banks are allowed to charge merchants for debit transactions. Merchants have complained they were charged too much for accepting debit card transactions.
Bank of America is not the only financial institution sticking fees to their customers – SunTrust Banks Inc., Atlanta, will also charge customers a $5 monthly fee; Birmingham, Ala.-based Regions Financial Corp. charges some accounts a $4 monthly fee. Wells Fargo & Co. is testing a $3 monthly debit card fee in some states.