Community counters debit fees

LAKEWOOD RANCH -- Community Bank & Co. will pay many of its new customers $5 a month for a full year when they open a new account, through a promotion that responds directly to the decision by many major banks to charge customers a monthly debit card fee.

Customers must open a Value Checking account with direct deposit to be eligible for the promotion, the bank says.

“We thought paying people $5 per month rather than charging them $5 per month was a good way to set us apart," says President Katie Pemble in a release.

Bank of America will begin charging its customers $5 a month for using a debit card for purchases at the start of 2012. Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase are also testing the viability of debit card fees in select markets.

Headquartered in Lakewood Ranch, Community Bank & Co. manages more than $760 million in assets through a network of 17 branch locations. The bank posted record profits of $1.6 million in the second quarter.