BofA fears consumer backlash, scraps $5 debit card fee

 

The online petition was started on Change.org by 22-year old D.C. resident Molly Katchpole. The petition was deluged with signatories from the initial 100 on Oct. 1 to 3,000 a day after and 75,000 on the third day.

Fearing a consumer backlash, Bank of America backtracked on Tuesday and announced that it would no longer charge clients a $5 monthly fee for use of their debit cards for purchases.

The threat came from 300,000 people who signed an online petition to halt the fee and 21,000 depositors who said they would close their BofA checking accounts if the bank insists on collecting the fee.

The online petition was started on Change.org by 22-year old D.C. resident Molly Katchpole. The petition was deluged with signatories from the initial 100 on Oct. 1 to 3,000 a day after and 75,000 on the third day.

BofA seems to have learned the lesson of Netflix which suffered a massive client withdrawal when the company insisted on splitting its video rental and streaming services.

Part of the consumer victory was driven by social networking sites which were used by enraged groups to vent their ire on companies they perceive as being too greedy at a time that Americans have had enough of belt tightening.

A New York public relations expert said the recent Netflix experience and BofA’s about-face showed that all businesses are now sitting on an electronic quicksand which one wrong move may cause them to sink.

The numbers are obviously working in favor of consumers now. Fo


Read full article…

Share

Reach investment goals in a bum economy

News of a potential double-dip recession and persistent economic instability has investors running for safety and concerned about whether they can still reach their investment goals.

While the future of the economy is uncertain, and opinions vary about how quickly we’ll recover, one thing is certain: Whether we’re headed for another recession or just prone to “flash recessions” — one-month slowdowns in gross domestic product, or GDP — investors are looking at their portfolios and wondering what to do next.

A recession is defined as two consecutive down quarters of GDP. The last double-dip recession, which is two recessions with a short-lived recovery in between, was from 1981 to 1982. Back then, we had high inflation and interest rates. Once the economy recovered in 1983, the U.S. enjoyed a bull market for nearly 20 years.

But that was then. Now the economic landscape looks different.


Read full article…

Share

Dollar-Cost Averaging

Dollar cost averaging is one of the most respected investment perspectives in all of personal finance. In dollar cost averaging, an investor makes routine, ordinary investments in their favorite stocks, bonds, or other portfolio assets.

Dollar cost averaging is particularly popular because it works! Because stocks can be over or undervalued at any time, a dollar cost averaging strategy means that you buy deeply discounted and vastly overpriced stocks only occasionally. Most purchases are made at a very reasonable average price.

Dollar Cost Averaging Effectiveness

Dollar cost averaging works because it requires that an investor keep in the market at all times. Through the latest recession, when other investors were selling in droves, dollar cost averaging supporters would have been buying all through the ups and downs. Their returns were far better than investors who left the market because dollar cost averaging supporters were buying at record low stock prices.

Dollar cost averaging can be supported with the use of a dividend reinvestment plan. By entering into a DRIP for one of your favorite stocks, you can slowly accumulate more shares of stock with each dividend payment.


Read full article…

Share

What is a remortgage?

A remortgage is very much as it sounds – the simple replacement or substitution of your existing mortgage with a new mortgage. In the process, typically both:

the amount of the mortgage may change; and

the rate of repayment may also change.

Why, therefore, might you wish to remortgage your home? Although these are likely to vary according to your particular needs and circumstances, some of the most common reasons are to:

save money – clearly, if you are able to secure a new mortgage that offers a reduced rate of interest on the borrowing, you are likely to be saving money;

release equity – if you have been repaying your existing mortgage for a number of years, you are likely to have substantially increased your ownership of the equity in your home. By arranging a new mortgage to cover just the remaining debt, you might typically stand to release a significant amount of the equity to spend as you wish;

secure a new deal – some types of mortgage offer specific conditions for a limited duration (a fixed rate mortgage, for example). At the end of this period, the conditions typically revert to the lender’s standard variable rate of interest. Such a ch
Read full article…

Share

Citi Ups Checking Account Fees

Savings Accounts and Money Market Rates provided by 7 October 2011 Numerous national banks have introduced new fees for some of their traditionally free services, primarily debit cards. Now Citibank has announced that it will increase fees on its checking accounts starting in December, according to CNN.

Citibank already imposes fees on many of its checking accounts without a certain minimum balance throughout the month. The mid-level Citibank Account and EZ Checking account impose $15 and $20 monthly fees for any account with less than $6,000 and $1,500, respectively. The Citibank Account will rise to $15,000 minimum while the EZ Checking service will require at least $6,000 to avoid fees.

CNN notes a recent study from Bankrate.com found that the majority of checking accounts now come with fees attached, as banks react to the loss of revenue from debit cards and some of the riskier trading practices many had pursued.

“We dont expect to pay nothing to ride the train, its the same thing with a checking account,” Nessa Feddis, vice president and senior counsel of the American Bankers Association, told CNN.

Time reports that the public reaction has proven strongly negative, with 75 percent of readers polled suggesting they intend to switch banks and 22 percent plan to switch to payment methods that remain free, such as credit cards and cash.
Read full article…

Share
Page 5 of 25« First...«34567»1020...Last »

Featured Posts

Insurance Websites