Here's a very
smart move by a bank that understands the first, most basic tenet of business: The customer comes first.
MANATEE -- Community Bank, which has 17 branches throughout Manatee and four other southwest Florida counties, is joining the outcry against bank debit fees by offering new customers the opposite: a monthly payment.
The $5 per month Community Bank is offering anyone who opens a Value Checking account is a direct response to the $3 to $5 monthly debit card fees larger banks are starting to charge, bank officials said.
"We needed to do something to help consumers who are under attack from behemoth national banks charging fees that just don't make sense," said Katie Pembles, Community Bank president. "People have a choice of where to bank, and at Community Bank, we thought paying people $5 per month rather than charging them $5 per month was a good way to set us apart."
Pembles said Community Bank "doesn't think we have to charge $5 a month to make an account profitable."
The community banks have been in opposition to the big banks sine the behemoths almost ruined them, too. For example, community bankers ended up being strongly supportive of Elizabeth Warren and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. But, they're also smart businesspeople, and recognize a consumer trend when they see it.