Bank of America Corp (BAC): Banks Hit on Fees That Won’t Drive Customers Crazy

Big banks aren’t jumping in — but they should
Regional banks seem to be the trailblazers here, while larger banks like Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) give mobile services away for free to their customers — and JPMorgan, at least, plans to keep it that way for the foreseeable future. Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC) is the only big bank to dabble in assessing mobile fees, doing so for premium services such as emergency bill pay services, and bank-to-bank transfers.

Have banks finally hit upon a method of assessing fees without incurring customers’ ire? It seems so, and they would be wise to take advantage. The newness of the mobile banking segment is a real plus since, as this article from American Banker notes, it is harder to suddenly begin charging for something that until now had been free. Fees are big money — consider that overdraft fees made up approximately 60% of banks’ checking account fee revenue in 2011 — and banks have an opportunity to make some real money with mobile without experiencing repercussions from irked customers. What could be sweeter?

The article Banks Hit on Fees That Won’t Drive Customers Crazy originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Amanda Alix.

Fool contributor Amanda Alix has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Bank of America and Wells Fargo. The Motley Fool owns shares of Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo.

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