Banks, telecoms move on new mobile payment system

In the first place debit cards are a bad idea. They don’t have the same protection as credit cards. Banks pushed them in the USA because of the huge fees they charged (hidden from users). Now those banks are not allowed to charge the hugely excessive fees (compared to any other country) they had been charging retailers. And the banks are now trying to push huge fees onto those using the cards. Just dump any debit card you have.

Debit cards were supposed to be toast. The industry started writing their obituary when financial reform targeted overdraft fees and interchange or “swipe” fees, which had made debit cards extremely lucrative for banks. So why is it that banks are now pushing debit cards like never before?  A couple years ago, the banking industry warned federal regulators that reform efforts could lead to both an increase in fees and a decrease in debit card usage.

Debit cards were supposed to be toast. The industry started writing their obituary when financial reform targeted overdraft fees and interchange or “swipe” fees, which had made debit cards extremely lucrative for banks. So why is it that banks are now pushing debit cards like never before?  A couple years ago, the banking industry warned federal regulators that reform efforts could lead to both an increase in fees and a decrease in debit card usage.

ONLY one thing is worse than the financial industry dangling inappropriate products in front of poor customers, and that is not providing them with financial services at all. In December the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) released a survey that found roughly one in 12 American households, or some 17m adults, are "unbanked", meaning they lack a current or savings account.

By Simon Johnson

Every time you make a plane reservation or rent a car or pay for concert tickets, you're asked to provide a credit card number. Liz Smiley, a social worker in Florida, provides a debit card number instead.Smiley has lived without a credit card for more than four years, and she doesn't miss it a bit.

  *This is the third post in a series of blogs about financial service companies and their efforts to serve the unbanked and underbanked population in the United States.  

Is it time to part ways your bank? There are more options than ever for people looking for a different kind of banking experience — many of them without the onerous fees and requirements of traditional bank accounts.  According to the FDIC, 821,000 households ditched their banks between 2009 and 2011. The financial crisis, the foreclosure robosigning scandal, and the huge amounts of money banks were raking in from fees turned consumers against their banks.