Bank of America (BofA) may face an antitrust
investigation following the introduction of monthly debit card
usage fees.
The investigation has been called for by five
US House Democrats who claim BofA and other large American banks,
including Wells Fargo, may have worked together improperly to
charge their customers monthly fees for using their debit
cards.
The democrats are concerned that collaboration
between the banks would be harmful to competition.
Peter Welch, US congressman for Vermont, said
in a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder:
“The result is that banks which normally
compete agree not to do so when it comes to swipe fee prices and
instead accept fees centrally determined by Visa and
MasterCard.”
The call for investigation comes
after BofA introduced a $5 monthly fee for debit card use
following the Durbin Amendment.
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By GlobalDataBofA claimed they would take a revenue hit of
$2bn a year following the fee caps.