Monthly debit card fee not acceptable to many

Most banks will implement the debit card monthly fee, come October. So, Wells Fargo customers will have to get used to the idea of seeing another fee on their monthly checking account statements. Some of the Wells Fargo customers are not very happy with the fee, and claim that they will move their accounts to some other local bank.

The monthly debit card fee would be tested in five states, starting October. Wells Fargo will start charging customers a monthly fee of $3 if they use the debit card for their purchases. However, customers can avoid the fee in case they don’t use their card or by simply signing up for some of the checking accounts, stated Jennifer Riordan, director of media relations, Well Fargo, New Mexico.

Riordan also clarified that the proposed fee was per checking account and not per debit card. There seems to be some confusion with this regard and some customers seem to think that they will be charged a fee every time they make purchases using the debit card, but that is not true, she added.

Customers who use the debit cards at ATMs only or for identification purposes will not be charged the monthly fee of $3.

However, the guinea pigs would be customers who have opened personal accounts or business accounts in Oregon, New Mexico, Nevada, Washington, and Georgia. This will not affect customers anywhere else unless they have originally opened the accounts in any of those states, stated the Wells Fargo spokeswoman.

Some of the Wells Fargo customers who used ATM machines claimed that they were unaware of the $3 fee that was likely to be introduced, while the others who were aware of the fee claimed that they were in the process of moving their checking accounts to other local banks that does not charge a fee for using the debit card.

Scott London states that he has already opened a fresh account with another bank and is just waiting for the direct deposit to move from the Wells Fargo account. Once that happens, he plans to close the account at Wells Fargo. He also added that he does not see any reason for spending money on something that he can get for free.

Another customer, Rex Allen Clark who has been banking with Wachovia since 1992, is unhappy with the banking services since Wells Fargo took over Wachovia. He claims that the customer services of both companies have gone down.