Bank of America struck a nerve this week when it announced it would charge many debit card users a $ 5 monthly fee when they shop. The company’s stock price fell. Customers complained. One cable business anchor sliced up her debit card live on air. Why such a public back lash over a few extra bucks a month7 Perhaps the bank’s decision simply reminded us all over a gain that we are living increasingly in a fee-littered world, where companies continually seek out new ways to nibble away at our wallets by charging for the smallest of once-free services, leaving many customers feeling nickel-and-dimed. "The proliferation of a la carte fees has inundated the economy, " said Ed Mierzwinski, consumer program director for the U. S. Public Interest Re search Group. Companies "are inventing new fees; they are making it harder to avoid fees; they are increasing the fees... It’s much more complicated to be a consumer. "Bank of America’s new debit card fee, which also has been tested or implemented by other banks, joins a long and growing list of similar charges that consumers now encounter in the course of daily life. Among them: airline baggage fees, hotel Internet fees, "convenience charges" for concert and sporting tickets, ATM fees, bank teller fees, paper statement fees, fees hidden in phone and cable bills, taxicab fuel surcharges and exorbitant shipping and handling costs. As many businesses find themselves squeezed by new regulations, rising fuel prices or the generally sluggish economy, they have sought new ways to extract more money from customers, despite the public relations hit that often results, said John Ulzheimer, president of consumer education at SmartCredit. com. "It’s absolutely a math equation: How many people am I going to lose" Ulzheimer said. "I don’t know that companies care so much about being loved; they care more that people continue to use them. What’s important is the bottom line. " That doesn’t mean the tactic can’t backfire. It’s little surprise that consumers feel slighted when something that used to be free—be it air line pretzels or hotel gyms—suddenly costs money. But the businesses behind those fees often argue that they simply are covering their costs. Bank of America’s debit card fee marks just one of the ways banks are modifying consumers’ accounts in the wake of the financial crisis, which resulted in a regulatory overhaul for the banking system and a fundamental shift in the industry business model. Even so, many customers have shown little sympathy for the bank’s woes in the wake of news about the new monthly debit card fee. "It’s not fair, " Elizabeth Romero of the District said Friday outside a Bank of America branch in Capitol Heights. "I started looking into changing banks. \ What did Bank of America decide to do
A. To invent new fees. B. To make consumers more complicated. C. To encourage people to deposit more money. D. To charge debit card users some amount of fee.