Struggling Credit Users Get Debt For Bank Account Use

Due to recent regulatory measures taken by both Congress and the Federal Reserve Board, banks have seen their revenues decline in recent months. As a result, many of these institutions are adding fees to already struggling cardholders.

Bank of America recently announced it will begin adding a $59 annual fee to select credit card users. However, this will not be tied to any specific bank account, but rather to any consumer who is deemed to carry an increased borrowing risk.

This means customers who have a lower-than-average FICO score, or who fail to make regularly payments, will likely be hit with this fee, according to The Associated Press. These cardholders are also typically paying 14 percent interest rates, which they would be unlikely to be approved for if they applied today.

While this will may help boost Bank of America's profits this year, low-income consumers will likely be hurt by these actions. Many under- or unemployed workers currently use credit cards to meet their monthly payments, and may have experienced a recent delinquency.

As a result, these struggling cardholders could end up being heaped with this added debt simply for experiencing an unfortunate incident such as a job loss or medical bill in recent years.