(Image source: The Inquisitr)
 

BY CHRISTINA HARTMAN

So about that $5 a month debit card fee you’ve heard so much about...

KCBS REPORTER: “This fee is gonna make a lot of people angry. Prepare to pay more to use your own money.”

WFXT ANCHOR: “I think it’s absolutely ridiculous because if it’s this then it’ll be something else. …  I’m going directly into my account and taking money that belongs to me.”

A move meant to boost its bottom line drew Bank of America so much consumer outrage -- the bank’s now scrapping the plan.

Here’s CNN.

“It turns out Bank of America is calling off the $5 debit fee all together. It started backing down a little bit last week saying some customers would be exempt. Now it says we're going to scrap it all together. This is coming after other big banks have dropped their fees on debit cards.”

Those other banks include Regions Bank, Sun Trust, JPMorgan and Wells Fargo. But it’s Bank of America that drew the most consumer ire -- especially in the media.

It was one issue many journalists didn’t even try to be objective about. Fox Business’ Gerri Willis put the pressure on Bank of America with this back in September.

“That $5 fee may not seem like much, but it’s the principle of the thing: More and more coming out of my pocket. … Right here, right now I’m going to show Bank of America just what I think of their fees. (Cuts card on air.)”

And now that Bank of America’s dropping the plan -- Willis is pretty excited.

“Let's stop for a second and realize what happened here. The bank has backed off of a policy it knows folks who do business with them do not like. … I have to say is this is a big win for consumers. This is very gratifying...”

Ooh but before you go getting too excited, Forbes warns, there’s a reason banks were trying this in the first place -- they argue they’re losing revenue from new rules that limit the fees banks can levy on merchants.

“Banks … will find more subtle ways to make up for this lost revenue, increases that may fly under the radar. Perhaps it will be an increase in an existing fee or in the introductory interest rates on credit cards. Some change will take place and it’s always the consumer that will end up paying the price for these increases.”

According to the AP -- an online petition demanding the $5 fee plan be dropped had garnered more than 300,000 signatures by this week.