Friday, November 4, 2011

Molly Katchpole -- the woman who brought Bank of America to its knees

Once again, customer anger and the power of social media carries the day for the American consumer.

Recently, Bank of America announced that it would begin charging debit card users a $5 monthly fee to use the service. Other banks were lining up to do the same. Enter Molly Katchpole, a recent college graduate holding down two part-time jobs, who decided enough is enough.

Shortly after the Bank of America announced its plans, Molly created a petition on Change.org, a nonpartisan website that allows individuals and advocacy groups to launch campaigns on any topic. More than 300,000 people signed the petition.


The petition read, in part: "The American people bailed out Bank of America during a financial crisis the banks helped create. ... How can you justify squeezing another $60 a year from your debit card customers? This is despicable."

The Bank of America was apparently listening to Molly and her friends. The $5 monthly fee quickly went away.

This is another example of how companies are misjudging their customers, much like Netflix did when it tried to divide its DVD-rental and online streaming businesses. It's also another example of how customers' voices are now being heard by these companies when they are amplified through the megaphone of social media.

To learn more about Molly Katchpole and her fight against the Bank of America, follow this link:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h0tUVNNHK66-3Orkt-KehY1MTndw?docId=2c278e04267f4f76bca42ffe57c2e7d5