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The cost of the debit card processing is germane, when banks are arguing that it's to recoup those costs that they are charging their customers debit usage fees. If there are legitimate costs that exceed what the banks save in overhead and personnel, and those costs aren't already covered by the fees that banks have and continue to charge retailers, then there is justification for charging consumers. But if the banks are simply making billions of dollars of pure profit, and the amount of profit is being diminished during an economic period where virtually every business has suffered diminished profits, then the justification for charging consumers is tenuous. And since one of the defenses of these charges is that consumers can move their business to banks and credit unions that don't charge these fees, smaller banks and credit unions that didn't compensate their CEO $10,000,000.00 in 2010, it would seem the justification is indeed tenuous.
So your answer to my question about Justin Beiber is 'yes?' (I asked, if it only costs Beiber a penny per 45 cents of ticket revenue to put on a concert, should Dick Durbin step in and reduce ticket prices?)
So your answer to my question about Justin Beiber is 'yes?' (I asked, if it only costs Beiber a penny per 45 cents of ticket revenue to put on a concert, should Dick Durbin step in and reduce ticket prices?)
No.
Banks are businesses, they should make profits. They are making profits. They are making huge profits. Billions of dollars. I'd like it if they made billions of dollars for actually providing services, rather than skimming the till. The debit usage fee isn't justified. It's an extra burden on customers. I hope those customers do walk, even run, to credit unions and small banks. But I don't think it's going to change the "banking culture" at big banks like Bank of America where the "banking culture" is clearly a problem.
Banks are businesses, they should make profits. They are making profits. They are making huge profits. Billions of dollars. I'd like it if they made billions of dollars for actually providing services, rather than skimming the till. The debit usage fee isn't justified. It's an extra burden on customers. I hope those customers do walk, even run, to credit unions and small banks. But I don't think it's going to change the "banking culture" at big banks like Bank of America where the "banking culture" is clearly a problem.
Big Banks make money by enhancing every potential revenue stream. The idea that BofA was never going to enhance a potential revenue stream unless another one was blocked is patently absurd.
I answered your question. I said "no". I said I fully supported banks making profits. And I support Justin Bieber making a profit, too. I support capitalism. I also support government regulations of the market. Because capitalism has a downside as well as an upside. Any economic system has advantages and disadvantages. Any political system has advantages and disadvantages. I think monopolies are bad for an economy, for instance, and government regulations designed to prevent monopolies are good. Is that price-fixing? Maybe. Aren't tariffs a price-fixing strategy, too? And yet there are many conservatives who post on threads in this forum about how tariffs are what we need to offset globalism.
I support balanced approaches to our economic problems. And caps on fees that banks charge, just like laws against usury, are legitimate strategies to deal with those problems, as long as the strategy is well-formulated and thought out.
Was this current law well-formulated and thought out? I don't think it was. But I also think the banks are playing the public, and I have very little sympathy for them.
I answered your question. I said "no". I said I fully supported banks making profits. And I support Justin Bieber making a profit, too. I support capitalism. I also support government regulations of the market. Because capitalism has a downside as well as an upside. Any economic system has advantages and disadvantages. Any political system has advantages and disadvantages. I think monopolies are bad for an economy, for instance, and government regulations designed to prevent monopolies are good. Is that price-fixing? Maybe. Aren't tariffs a price-fixing strategy, too? And yet there are many conservatives who post on threads in this forum about how tariffs are what we need to offset globalism.
I support balanced approaches to our economic problems. And caps on fees that banks charge, just like laws against usury, are legitimate strategies to deal with those problems, as long as the strategy is well-formulated and thought out.
Was this current law well-formulated and thought out? I don't think it was. But I also think the banks are playing the public, and I have very little sympathy for them.
I answered too fast. But so your answer is 'no?' If the bank makes 45 cents on 1 cent of cost, and Beiber makes 45 cents on 1 cent of cost, why a cap on the bank but not Beiber?
I answered too fast. But so your answer is 'no?' If the bank makes 45 cents on 1 cent of cost, and Beiber makes 45 cents on 1 cent of cost, why a cap on the bank but not Beiber?
How many people carry and use debit cards?
How many people go to a Bieber concert?
I realize that scale is sometimes irrelevant to a discussion, but I think it's relevant to this discussion because on one hand we are talking about a singular entertainment event, and on the other hand we are talking about 520 million debit cards, used often daily, which has an impact on the nation and its economy. So the nation, the nation's government, has an interest in banks, but not an interest in Bieber.
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