Florida-Based Community Bank to Pay Customers for Their Business

In response to Bank of America’s recently announced $5 monthly fee for debit card usage, Florida-based Community Bank is doing the reverse — it’s paying customers to bank with them.

Katie Pembles, Community Bank president, told Bradenton.com, “We needed to do something to help consumers who are under attack from behemoth national banks charging fees that just don’t make sense … we thought paying people $5 per month rather than charging them $5 per month was a good way to set us apart.”

In a move President Obama calls a “mistreatment” of consumers, national banks such as BofA, Wells Fargo and Citibank have all implemented fees they say are necessary in light of new legislation that caps how much they can charge vendors when debit cards are swiped.

Consumers outraged by the action have given credit unions an influx of business. One such organization, Navy Federal Credit Union, reports a 20 percent increase in new account openings since BofA announced the debit card fee.

[HuffingtonPost]