-
Bank of America Corp., the largest bank by assets, plans to start charging its checking customers $5 per month, or $60 annually, if they use their debit cards to make purchases. The fees will go into effect early next year.
September 29 -
Community bankers say they'll continue offering free checking for the foreseeable future, even if they're not entirely happy about it. If they followed the big banks by adding fees or changing terms, "we'd lose the accounts," says one local banker.
August 29
First Tennessee Bank is getting ready to rake in the pennies.
First Tennessee, which is owned by First Horizon National Corp. in Memphis, Tenn., is the latest financial institution to charge its customers for using their debit cards, in the wake of new federal restrictions on debit interchange fees.
But First Tennessee is taking an unusual approach: instead of collecting a monthly fee, the bank will charge its customers a few cents every time they use their debit cards.
Starting Oct. 22, the $24.8 billion-asset bank will charge 4 cents on PIN debit transactions and 14 cents on signature debit transactions. The bank will cap the fees it charges each customer at $3 per month.
First Tennessee began sending messages to customers in August alerting them to change.
The fees won't apply to certain checking accounts and there will be no fees for withdrawing cash from First Tennessee ATMs, according to an emailed statement from Dave Miller, the bank's head of consumer banking.
But unlike many banks that have revamped their debit card programs in recent months, First Tennessee will still let customers earn points towards cash rewards when they use their debit cards.
Many large banks have
Last week Bank of America Corp. said it would start
