Is anyone surprised by U.S. banks lining up to announce new fees on debit cards, given the profits swiped away by a law limiting "swipe fees."

Banks, it might be said, are the monarchs of money in that, all things being equal, they don't take no for an answer.


When Congress limited the fees banks could charge for customers swiping debit cards for purchases, it was a matter of when, where and how much banks would invent a replacement fee. Did anyone have any doubts on this?

Reportedly, Bank of America will be the first to establish a new fee of $5 per month for consumers who use their debit cards to make purchases, as opposed to those using them at automatic teller machines.

Congratulations are in order. The braintrust at BofA created a fee out of thin air but did not dress it up in smoke and mirrors or use any obscure excuse for doing so. The government limited fees elsewhere -- badda boom -- right back atchya, Washington.

The wearisome point of the discussion is the surreal argument between banks and retailers about who would be hurt most by the previous fee structure -- banks, that is, or retailers. Consumers paid either way, making the swipe fee debate a parlor game; it was a matter of what customers perceived: Were they being gouged by banks or retailers? Who were the so-called bad guys here?

This week it looks like the banks were the bad guys; after all, look who's doing the gouging now. Had new swipe card regulations put the onus on retailers, however, rest assured prices would have risen for anything one can buy with a debit card. Then the consumers could blame greedy store owners, instead of greedy bankers.

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A spokeswoman for BofA said the bank was "adjusting our pricing to reflect today's economics," The Washington Post reported.

There are many other ways to phrase that. BofA is "entirely devoted to profits -- after all, we're a bank," the spokeswoman might have said. That would have worked.

In a statement, Sen. Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill., who sponsored the provision in the financial overhaul bill that directed the U.S. Federal Reserve to review and regulate swipe fees, said, "Bank of America is trying to find new ways to pad their profits by sticking it to their customers." He called the new fees "overt" and "unfair," the Post reported.

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Been there, done that. That argument is passe.

The real argument is not "customers are being taken." The argument is "how are customers being taken."

The rules now make it harder for banks to punish, with fees, a consumer who overdraws an account, forcing banks to spread the cost of doing business throughout their customer base. The swipe fees once charged every customer, no matter what their bank balance might have been. Now it is up to banks to replicate that with a new system -- charging for a service in the fairest manner possible. In reality, "adjusting our pricing to reflect today's economics," is a dimwitted response. "Reflecting our pricing to match today's politically correct environment" might be the answer many are seeking.

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In international markets Friday, the Nikkei 225 index in Japan was flat and the Shanghai composite index fell 0.26 percent. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong dropped 2.32 percent and the Sensex in India fell 1.46 percent.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 rose marginally, up 0.01 percent.

In midday trading in Europe, the FTSE 100 index fell 1.5 percent while the DAX 30 in Germany lost 2.56 percent. The CAC 40 in France shed 2.06 percent and the Stoxx Europe 600 lost 1.54 percent.