Bank of America’s Debit Card Fee (A) and (B)

Author
Bonanno, J,
Region
North America
Topic
Strategy & General Management
Length
11 pages
Keywords
Conflict Management
crisis management
customer communication
customer management
customer relations
financial
Copyright Holder
Notre Dame
Student Price
$4.00
Target Audience
Graduate Students
Undergraduate Students

In the fall of 2011, Bank of America announced a plan to begin charging customers $5 per month on debit card accounts. The announcement met with sharp public outrage. Due to the backlash, Bank of America was faced with a difficult dilemma: proceed as planned and face a public relations nightmare - or cancel the fee program, lose billions, and be forced to answer to shareholders.

Learning Outcomes
  1. Demonstrate the importance of listening and developing an understanding of customer perspective to guide corporate communications;
  2. Illuminate the business risks that arise when individual business units make decisions without concern for customer perception;
  3. Encourage a company-wide corporate culture that promotes thoughtful consideration for customer relations and corporate communication;
  4. Demonstrate how adherence to the “Page Principles” can prevent a corporate communications mishap;
  5. Illustrate how a mismanaged business issue can quickly become a major corporate communication issue.