Banks have always been notorious for charging pesky fees. But the nation's biggest financial institutions couldn't have picked a worse time to try out new monthly charges on debit cards -- right as the Occupy Wall Street movement swept across the nation.
Bank of America, Wells Fargo, JP Morgan and other banks planned to levy the new fees, but executives quickly backed off after customers revolted, pledging to close their checking accounts.
One cable news anchor cut up her card on the air and even President Obama condemned the move. Bank of America, the last major bank to withdraw its plans, received much of the flak.
Ironically, the banks may have thought they were doing customers a favor by being transparent about their new fees. Since then, several banks have quietly raised other fees on account holders. Customers may have won the battle of the debit card fees but the banks are still winning the war.
-- Nin-Hai Tseng
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