Mugged American Style – Bank of America Debit Card Fees

Mugged American Style - link

The latest outrage to be thrust upon an economically beaten down American populace was the announcement that the nation’s largest bank, Bank of America, will begin charging customers $5 per month to use debit cards to make purchases. Excuse me, if you let me hold your money, I will charge you when you spend it. Do we have a deal?

Now some of the same institutions involved in taking down the economy are now involved in a near literal shakedown of the very citizens that bailed them out with taxpayer funds. The economic collapse that burst forth during the last few months of 2008 has been long lasting and deep. Millions of Americans were flushed out of the workforce and over 14 million still find themselves unemployed and seemingly unemployable. In many ways this was a double crime with hardworking citizens in the United States being initially mugged by those manipulating our financial system and then taken hostage by politicians corrupting our political process. As this socioeconomic terrorism was taking place, the wealth of those caught in the crossfire was melting away as they strove to survive by burning through personal savings, retirement funds and other assets of value. While millions were free falling from their former positions on the economic ladder, the wealthy were becoming wealthier. The future of the United States will be decided by a struggle between new age robber barons aided by their political enablers versus sane, rational Americans seeking to return this nation to its full former glory. A fee to use your money is one more insult on top of injury.

What are besieged consumers to do? A system has been set up that runs on electronic transactions from using debit cards, online bill payment and electronic funds transfer. Sure banks have invested in worldwide automated teller systems but that saved manpower costs and allowed them to operate with fewer physical branch offices. ATMs don’t take weekly salaries, health insurance or vacations. This is strictly about taking money out of the hide of customers since new regulations limit how much banks could charge merchants to process transactions so it went to its own account holders. This $5 fee does not hit everyone. Account holders with larger average balances can avoid the fee so it really only hits those that can least afford it, is this the new American way.

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