Consumers Will Switch Banks Over Fees: Survey

[marmar]

(Bloomberg) About 30 percent of U.S. consumers said they’d leave their banks over fees for using their debit cards, according to a survey by the Research Intelligence Group.

About 43 percent said they’d switch to paying with cash or credit cards if their bank implemented charges, while 13 percent said they’d pay the fee if it was “reasonable,” according to the survey released yesterday by the Fort Washington, Pennsylvania-based consulting and market-strategy firm.

“There’s a lot of consumer discontent within financial services and I think there’s a lot of frustration,” said Rob Kaplan-Sherman, president of the services division of the Research Intelligence Group, a unit of Montreal-based Leger Marketing. “People express that they’re going to change their behavior, and that includes changing how and where they bank.”

The survey comes as the largest banks, including Bank of America Corp. (BAC), are testing or planning to start charging fees of as much as $5 a month for consumers who have a debit card or use one for purchases. ............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-19/consumers-say-they-ll-switch-banks-over-debit-fees-study-finds.html

[ixion]

1. the so-called too-big-to-fail (sic) banks should never have been bailed out

we'd have other problems, certainly, but we wouldn't have them, and that in and of itself would be a big help in digging out of our current situation. As it stands, they're only helping to make things worse.

[aquart]

3. BoA certainly is.

[ixion]

6. so are Citi, GS and Chase

pretty much the whole crew.

[Sherman A1]

2. Indeed

I use a regional bank and the minute I see a fee on my statement, I take my business down the street to the credit union. So far so good and there is a branch nearby the house, but the credit union's branch is only about 5 more minutes.

[Shandris]

4. No kidding. This seems like common sense to me!

In the not-so-far-away past, it was the huge account holders paying fees. Now the little guy is paying fees while they LITERALLY give money (in the form of interest, of course) and waive fees for huge sums. And they think we don't realize this?

So now they want to force us into a society with little to no cash...THEN charge us to use their 'bank' (a term of obsolescence in a cashless society, isn't it? What the hell is there to put in the 'bank'?) to access our own fucking money?

They can die in a fire. A big, hot, slow, agonizing fire.

[surrealAmerican]

5. Those percentages are rather lower than I would expect.

I don't know why the banks would expect to keep any of their customers when they are charging for a service that people can get for free elsewhere. Are they hoping everyone will just stay to avoid the hassle of moving an account, no matter the cost?

[PoliticAverse]

7. What people say they will do and what they will actually do frequently differs. n/t

[SugarShack]

8. Not only fees coming...concurrent drafts coming too...like life ins. and cable TV, car ins. etc. go

TO THE LOCAL CREDIT UNION!!!!

[sarcasmo]

9. Shocked the percentage isn't higher.