WASHINGTON, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner says the Obama administration will not retreat on banking reform despite the banks' latest pushback on debit card fees.
Geithner told CNN Tuesday new limits on transaction fees charged to card users were reasonable and the recent announcement by Bank of America that it would charge a $5 monthly fee to card holders was not unexpected.
"There are no surprises, nothing strange about the fact that banks are resisting it -- are pushing back," Geithner said. "They are trying to weaken those reforms."
Geithner contended that the 21-cent limit on debit card transactions was reasonable considering the actual cost of processing such purchases was between 4 cents and 12 cents. Many banks had been charging an average of 44 cents, which was generally paid by the retailer.
"We are going to push back harder," Geithner vowed. "In the end, we are going to prevail because what we are doing is a reasonable, sensible thing."
