Several big name financial institutions, such as Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) and JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM) are looking for ways to increase fee income in order to offset expected revenue declines from the financial reform bill.
The latest version of the financial reform bill passed on Thursday is expected to pressure revenue in several areas ranging from items like transaction fees on debit card transactions to proprietary trading at banks.
The rule changes may lead banks to start implementing fees that had essentially disappeared from the industry early in the new millennium, such a fees for not meeting mininumu balance requirements on a checking account, or reinstituting fees for certain online banking transactions that are currently free.
Banks are legitimately concerned with revenue declines due to the new rules as Bank of America said on Friday that it could stand to lose more than $2 billion in yearly revenue just from the changes in what fees can be charged on debit card transactions.
The financial reform bill, which is expected to be signed by President Obama soon, represents the largest sweeping change in the banking industry since the Great Depression era.
