Bank of America, a veritable consumer giant, just might have done the entire industry a favor.

The fact is that despite Bank of America's problems, its massive consumer market heft makes it a bellwether for consumer banking practices. And now that it has taken the not-altogether-unexpected step of imposing a monthly debit card monthly fee, other banks may now have the precedent they need to charge similar fees. Recall that JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo were testing the idea of debit card fee. Regional banks like SunTrust had already moved to charge fees.

All this is the result of the Durbin Amendment, which instructed the Fed to slash interchange fees, which will cost banks billions. The industry has had a lot of time to ponder the fee situation, and banks have been dreaming up new fees. Bank of America's debit card use fee will be imposed only on people using the card to make transaction, not ATM withdrawals. The fee will come on top of other recently imposed fees.

So the question has to be asked if the Durbin Amendment has achieved its goals. It has certainly reduced interchange fees, and for that the merchant community will be thankful. At the same time, banks were forced to hike fees in so many other areas. We've discussed the extent to which people will trend back toward credit cards, which still carry rewards programs and the like. If more banks opt for debit card maintenance and use fees, this may take place.  

For more:
- here's a Chicago Tribune article

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