BofA slams Chase, other big banks in full-page WSJ ad
Bank of America is touting its new consumer friendly debit card overdraft policy in a full page Wall Street Journal ad in this mornings paper.
Bank of America decided that doing away with debit card overdraft “protection” was in the best interest of its customers, as most people expect debit cards to stop working once an account is out of money. One danger with debit cards that work as credit cards is that you grab the wrong card to make a big purchase. This wouldn’t make you inept at managing your account, just human. A mistake like that is likely to happen to everyone at least once in their lifetime.
Our new approach to overdrafts is getting a lot of buzz. Not a lot of fees.
We’ve listened to our customers about what they expect from their debit card. Beginning this Summer, we will help our customers avoid unexpected overdraft fees by only authorizing everyday debit card purchases when customers have enough money in their accounts to cover them. It’s another way Bank of America is helping customers keep overdrafts under control.
“Bank of America is to be congratulated for this important first step. Instead of launching a hard-sell campaign to persuade customers to opt-in to the most expensive form of overdraft coverage, Bank of America has correctly decided to simply deny debit card purchases on insufficient funds. Other banks should follow their lead.” – Jean Ann Fox, Director of Financial Services, Consumer Federation of America
There are a couple more quotes in the ad which I have left out as the first quote correctly captures the spirit of the ad; they are calling out other banks, especially Chase, which has been accused of fear-mongering tactics to get people to sign up for overdraft protection once they can’t offer it by default.
Advertising, Bad bad Chase | admin July 12, 2010
