I just read an article on CNNMoney.com written by Blake Ellis called Bank fee Whac-a-Mole: New charges hit accounts.  The first sentence reads "Bank fees: They're like a game of Whac-a-Mole.  The minute one set is banned, a whole new set pops up."
The article goes on to describe how Bank of America, Wells Fargo, HSBC, Citibank and American Express are coming out with new fees to offset the loss of fees banned by the Federal Government.  The article was using these banks as an example stating many others are doing the same thing and how sad it was.
Maybe it's just me, but I thought financial institutions like all other industries were in business to make money and increase shareholder value.  Why is it so hard to understand that if you take away income from one area of a business they are forced to find another way?  If you told car repair shops they can't charge for oil changes, do they just sit back and say "darn, I guess we won't make as much money from now on", of course not, they would start charging for....
We are Americans, we innovate, create, think and work ourselves out of problems.  I heard Dr. Gordon Gee, President of The Ohio State University speak recently on innovation.  He told a group of bankers that he had a meeting with the Education Minister of China not long ago.  He said this meeting was expected to be a few minutes to exchange pleasantries.  Dr. Gee explained how he spent the next 3 hours answering questions directly from the Minister on how we teach Americans how to innovate.  We know China has many resources, they have many citizens, but what they don't have is a consistent stream of new ideas like we do in the United States.  Dr. Gee understands why we must continue this trend to remain the best country in the world!
At RBC, we love to receive comments from our customers, both positive and negative.  It's not that we enjoy negative feedback but we learn the most from it.  We learn about the places we can improve to make the customers happier with the service we provide.  If the comments are about fees, we need to take a look at our charges and consider if the service provided can be done more cost effectively or dropped all together.
I don't believe the government should be banning any "fees" in any industry.  If the customer does not like the quality or price of a product or service in this country they are always free to shop around!  You are not forced to stay with any specific bank or any other business, but you can't blame the business for attempting to create a structure that allows them to keep their customers happy, stay viable, hire employees, pay benefits, and at the end of the day maintain a return on the investment for their stockholders.    I believe this is what our country was built on, and what it needs to continue to remain prosperous.  God Bless America!   
 

Chad L. Hoffman
President/CEO      
The Richwood Banking Company