On Mon, 03 Oct 2011 10:47:18 -0700, SMS wrote:

On 10/3/2011 10:28 AM, SMS wrote:

Maybe someone knows the answer to this question, but does the new limit
on debit card fees apply only to PIN based debit card transactions or
even to MC/Visa debit card transactions?

Actually I found the answer, the limit for non-PIN based fees is 21 or
22 cents plus 0.5% of the purchase. This is significantly less than the
fees charged to merchants for credit cards, and about the same as what
it costs to clear a check with Check 21.

So what Bank of America did is smart, on the surface, though they
handled it as badly as Neflix. They have a huge credit card portfolio
and if someone says, "hey, I'll just use a credit card rather than pay
$5 a month to use a debit card" then BOA is happy. They may not have
anticipated the backlash though.

It's always amusing to read a news story where the person being
interviewed explains that they use a debit card to avoid paying interest
on credit cards. These people need to get a clue.

Perhaps not. Perhaps these people can't keep a zero balance on their CCs.