Credit Unions seem to be taking advantage of
the effect the Durbin Amendment had on banks’ debit card portfolio
strategies, with a number of credit unions launching initiatives to
attract more debit card customers.
Freedom Credit Union is offering to pay $5 per
month for purchases made on debit cards. The credit union is also
offering to pay customers up to $60 if they switch to its Freedom’s
Free Interest current account.
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Lee MacMinn, CEO and president of Freedom
said:
“Freedom has always offered convenient free
Checking with interest. Freedom’s Debit Card is free to use and
will remain that way.”
Consumer Union, a public policy and advocacy
division of Consumer Reports in the US, has sent letters to Chase,
Wells Fargo, SunTrust and Bank of America (BofA) arguing that debit
card fees were unfair towards customers.
The letter was sent mid October asking the banks to respond by 2
November.
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By GlobalDataNorma Garcia, director of Consumers Unions
financial services programme said:
“If BofA and the other banks refuse to drop
the debit card fee, consumers should consider dropping them. There
are plenty of banks and credit unions that don’t charge debit card
fees that will be more than happy to accept new customers.”
