[eli]

Yes, and now instead of making a killing, debit card purchase fees are merely very profitable. I don't see how limiting these fees required BoA to institute a new monthly charge, nor do I assume that they wouldn't have added it anyway.

[Duff]

Something like 75% of Americans don't have $2,000 to their name. So the bank isn't making money in the ways that they traditionally did (lending deposits).

Basic banking services are not profit centers for banks at all. They only offer those services at low cost because the government forces them to. Basically, the upside to a checking account for a bank is that the bank has a platform to spam you for loans and other services.