Bank of America scraps debit card fee after consumer backlash

“They overreached,” Welch said. “It was customer reaction, there was competitor reaction and there was congressional reaction.”

Credit unions and community banks have reported a surge of interest — and new accounts — as consumers seek alternatives. Roughly 51,000 people have signed up to move their money out of large banks on Saturday, according to the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, which is helping to organize the event. The group said that more than 21,000 are Bank of America customers.

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 These executives, including Brian T. Moynihan, pictured here, head some of the nation's largest and most closely watched financial institutions.

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 Empowered consumers are forcing some of America’s largest corporations, from Apple to Bank of America, to make radical changes to products or policies.

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“This is a victory for consumers who are voting with their feet,” said Ed Mierzwinski, head of the consumer program at U.S. PIRG. “For the first time, a bank fee has bitten the bank.”

For other banks charging a debit card fee or testing one, the response has been resounding: Abandon ship. Wells Fargo, Chase, Regions and SunTrust all canceled fees last week, which left Bank of America the last bank standing.

“We have listened to our customers very closely over the last few weeks and recognize their concern with our proposed debit usage fee,” David Darnell, co-chief operating officer at Bank of America, said Tuesday in a statement. “Our customers’ voices are most important to us. As a result, we are not currently charging the fee and will not be moving forward with any additional plans to do so.”

The move came too late for Matt Hrono, 21, of Boston. He stopped using his Bank of America checking account after learning about the planned charge and won’t go back despite the bank’s about-face.

“Just the fact that they even considered it, that just shows how ridiculous they are and how utterly greedy they are,” he said.

Instead, Hrono switched to USAA, which has touted its stance against a debit card fee. When a customer service representative asked why he was joining the bank, he mentioned the charge at Bank of America. It was a refrain she had heard before.

“You’re not the first person today who said the same thing,” Hrono said she told him.

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