Bank of America Customer Delivers 153,000 Signatures in Petition Over Fee

[ProSense]

Source: ABC News

Molly Katchpole, the 22-year-old Bank of America customer who organized a grassroots campaign against the new $5 debit card fee, delivered more than 153,000 petitions to a bank branch in D.C. today. Katchpole closed her accounts, cut up her debit and credit card on the sidewalk, and left with $400 cash she says she intends to deposit in a credit union.

“Five dollars might not seem like a lot of money to the people who made the decision, but to thousands of people right now an extra $60 a year to a company they just bailed out with their tax money is not ok,” she said.

Bank of America President Brian Moynihan told ABC News on Wednesday that the fee “is meant to provide great service” and that customers with a balance greater than $5000 will be exempt. Katchpole called the explanation unacceptable: “The actual reasons don’t matter to a lot of Americans. What they’re seeing is a company that doesn’t pay any federal income tax asking for more money to go to a feature that people have been using for free.”

Asked by ABC News if she was able to meet the $5000 threshold to be exempt from the fee, she said, “Helll no. No, I’m not. Absolutely not. How many people are right now? And even if I was, I would probably move (my account) anyway. I’d probably leave the bank, and a lot of people are doing that.”


Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/business/2011/10/bank-of-america-customer-delivers-153000-signatures-in-petition-over-fee/

[Ruby the Liberal]

1. Good for you, Molly!!

:applause:

[russspeakeasy]

8. Good for you molly, but my guess is that those signatures

are now in the dumpster.

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. If boa has any sense (cue laugh track) they will

get rid of it.

[bigworld]

3. How does BoA stay in business?

Really, does anyone like them? I've banked with my local credit union for 23 years and LOVE them. Why do people put up with this crap from their bank?

http://moveyourmoneyproject.org/

[mindwalker_i]

10. They stay in business because people are lazy

Good for this one for getting out of the bank, that's ultimately a fucking hell of a lot more effective than some set of signatures. Anybody who stays with BA and has some other choice is an idiot.

It's like the dudes who bitch and complain about the record companies overcharging, going after people for downloading a song, etc., but still buy music from those companies. Every "consumer" has a vote - an option not to support an asshole company. BTW, that applies to Comcast too.

[Leftist Agitator]

18. "BTW, that applies to Comcast too."

Not if they're the only high-speed internet provider in town, as is the case where I live.

[Yupster]

30. I think they're closer to bankrupcy than anyone realizes

and they're going to take every teacher pension fund, bond mutual fund and insurance company down with them.

It will be worse than 2008 when Lehman Brothers went broke.

[Warpy]

4. What will end that stupid fee is the increase in overhead

that processing a whole lot of checks is going to cost them. Rather than paying that fee for a piece of plastic, people will just write checks.

[FirstLight]

5. my dad is not poor

he has always managed to keep at least 5 figures in the bank...he went into the teller, asked them if this was true, they told him yes, but not for him because of his balance...he asked for some scissors and cut it up right there. Though he didn't move his money, rats.
he's a faux news watcher so even this little rebellion was big for him.

[walerosco]

6. I dont get it

with all the banks in this country, why stick with BoA?

[sarcasmo]

29. Time to put a stop to these thieving bankers.

[TheEuclideanOne]

7. They are laughing

all the way to the bank. If 153,000 people told me that they did not like that they have to give me $60 a year because one day I woke up and decided to make a rule, would I be upset? Fuck no! If you don't believe me, let's try it and find out. I am game. Just send PM me and I will let you know what account to deposit it to.

[idiotgardener]

9. So people with $5,000 don't need "great service"?

Whatever.

[PatrynXX]

11. good luck Regions has the same $5 fee soon

I'm leaving for a credit union. that and it's $10 a month now if I don't do 15 transactions and keep $50 in the bank. do'h...

was $5 then $8 now it's $10

[otohara]

12. Maybe BOA Will Hire Some IT

Workers in ..... India!

[deathbytech]

13. Yes, get to a credit union stat

Right now is a great time to do it too. Mine keep advertising for really low loan rates too. I'm not interested but a couple of friends got super low rates on their respective loans for cars and school and stuff. I've been with my little CU in south carolina for a little under twenty years and they've been awesome. I've been with other corporate banks but always kept this one account open. It's part of a collective called CU service center. Check it out:

http://cuservicecenter.com/

Now you can bank with your bank at a completely different bank altogether! Completely. Frackin'. Free. It's really, really handy when you're traveling. The corporate banks would never, ever do this. This is why you'd have to pull my membership from my cold, dead hands.

[BrendaBrick]

19. Thanks for the link

And welcome to DU!

[Stumbler]

14. "153,000 signatures?" - Bank of America board members

In a Jim Ward-style Eric Cantor voice: "That's almost equivalent to my bi-weekly paycheck... Oh, dear.."

[LuckyLib]

15. Now this is a citizen who's part of a new movement. She's doing what millions

of folks need to do: vote with your feet, get your money out of the large banks, and get into a local credit union.

:applause:

[CRK7376]

16. Wells-Fargo is doing same as BoA

I sent Wells-Fargo a letter yesterday telling them I will close my account with them if they up charge an ATM fee. I don't have a big account with them, but that's not the issue here. Most of our check goes into a Credit Union, but I maintain a small account with Wachovia, which was recently bought out by Wells Fargo and I will not put up with a fee increase. Doubt they will listen to me, but it's worth the effort. No ATM Fee for me!

[TheEuclideanOne]

17. Are they really?

That is the logical next step. It is similar to when the first airline charged baggage fees. Soon they all did. In fact, the only reason that other banks are not doing it yet, I am guessing, is that they probably haven't finished finalizing the details. When they all do it, you will just have more people complaining.

BoA has always been horrible and I left them years ago for that reason. Most of their customers are via companies that have their employees banking there or their money there. They are not there for the great customer service, that's for sure.

I dropped another bank recently because they charged me because I didn't use their services for a while. I left my money (a small amount) in an account and they had the nerve to charge me because I had NO ACTIVITY on my account.

In short, these banks think that they have a god given right to our money. They can all fuck off, IMHO.

[alfredo]

21. I see this as a big fuck you to those who are protesting their abuses.

[alfredo]

20. We need a run on the bank.

[slackmaster]

22. 500 customers closing all of their accounts at that branch would get a lot more attention

But that's too much of a hassle for some people, I suppose.

[Gormy Cuss]

23. As would 500 current users at that branch ending their debit card transactions

and that wouldn't be as much hassle as closing their accounts.
The signature drive is a nice touch, but direct consumer action is even better.

That said, my recent experiences with BofA tells me it's in serious trouble.

[slackmaster]

24. B of A thinks I'm liable for a substantial credit card debt on my ex-wife's card

She neglected to close the account after our 1999 divorce. This week I discovered that she is in default on the card. It's a long story, but suffice it to say I've done everything I can to fix the problem and not made any progress. It wasn't a major issue until her derogatory credit started appearing on my credit history.

Bank of America has indicated that they will come after me for the money if they can't collect it from her. But by the time she files Chapter 13 and tells the bank to pound sand, I will have in hand a court order saying that I'm not responsible for the debt. Then I can tell B of A to pound sand.

[Gormy Cuss]

25. Ouch.

We had problems with BAHL (AKA Countrywide) and we finally threw up our hands and closed out all of our BofA accounts.

[slackmaster]

27. I have half a mind to pay off my Countrywide (BofA) mortgage with my Wells Fargo HELOC

The interest rate on the HELOC is lower, but it's variable so I'd be risking having it go way up before I get it paid off.

[marasinghe]

26. smart Lady. she knew to deliver her petitions straight to the source.

wise enough - not to bother with the paid flunky middle-men in Congress.

[sarcasmo]

28. The question is what percentage of us Americans could maintain the 5grand balance

to stay exempt from the 5 dollar fee? A 5,000 balance is not possible for this American.