SunTrust Bank recently instituted a monthly debit card fee. After also dropping its free checking account, SunTrust’s new basic checking account will charge a $5 fee for every month during which a debit card is used on signature, PIN point-of-sale, and recurring check card transaction. ATM transactions did not count as they are not affected by debit fee rules. Is that a good idea? Two separate surveys suggests it is not...in a new Associated Press-GfK poll, 61 percent said they would find another way to pay if they were charged a $3 monthly fee. If the fee was $5, two-thirds said they would do the same. If the fee was $7, the figure rises to 81 percent, AP reports.
A Mercator White Paper, sponsored by National Payment Card asked consumers if they would stop using their debit card if a bank were to add monthly fees to use their debit card.
One can see (right) a dramatic impact that the addition of fees for using their debit cards had onconsumer’s preference for this payment form. Adding $10 worth of monthly fees caused a
majority of consumers to say they would stop using their debit cards, indicating that a primary
threshold had been reached over which any additional fees had far less impact.
In addition, women were more likely than men to say they would stop using their debit cards
(80%-85% vs. 70%-73%), and 83%-84% of individuals with incomes over $75,000 would stop
using their cards across all store types
