The debit card fee conundrum that engulfed Bank of America--a bank that certainly knows how to court controversy--has led a few politicians to propose a new fee transparency initiative.

They have asked banks to voluntarily adopt practices that would "post publicly" a clear  fee disclosure box--which amounts to "an easy-to-read form so that people can avoid, or at least know about, fine-print fees."

"We want to inform and empower consumers all across America," they say. "This is an extraordinarily important document in its simplicity and the fact that it gives the consumers and banking customers all across America the basic banking information you need to know to make a choice."

We cannot argue with the sentiment, and we do think such disclosure is a great idea, one that banks could actually use in their marketing. But we have to make clear that Bank of America was not opaque with its debit card fee proposal. The fee was scheduled to go into effect next year, to give consumers time to adjust. It was never a massive secret. Fees these days rarely are, given the activist consumer community.

So while an easy-to-read disclosure page would be a good thing, it's not as if the debit card fee was ever really hidden. What's really at issue here is value. To generate more fees, it would really help if that fee could be tie to new services. They cannot be seen as mere money gouging. Banks are having trouble cracking this nut.

For more:
- here's an article from ABCNews

Related article:
Banks explore fee options