A short story told in four parts.
- Crypto Exchange Finds a New Source of Revenue: ‘Inactivity Fee’, says Bloomberg just yesterday.
- Crypto Exchange Bitstamp Cancels Plans for ‘Inactivity Fee’, Bloomberg corrects us today.
- Bank of America plans $5 debit card fee, CBS News reveals back in 2011.
- Bank of America axes $5 debit card fee, CNN Money trumpets only months later.
Heck, even the reasoning for the reversal is similar!
Then:
“We have listened to our customers very closely over the last few weeks and recognize their concern with our proposed debit usage fee,” said David Darnell, Bank of America’s co-chief operating officer. “Our customers’ voices are most important to us. As a result, we are not currently charging the fee and will not be moving forward with any additional plans to do so.”
Now:
“We have taken everyone’s concerns onboard and have decided to cancel the Inactivity Fee,” JB Graftieauz, Bitstamp’s chief executive, said in a statement citing customer feedback.
In Matt Levine’s daily column at Bloomberg he often mentions that Crypto(-currency) and the world of Decentralized Finance (DeFi) is learning the same lessons as the world of traditional finance (TradFi). They’re just learning them faster, which is certainly the case here given the single-day turnaround from announcement to cancellation.
Moments like this certainly throw into sharp relief how true (and funny!) that is.