Transplanting a Seattleite

If I had a cash-back card (I don't, alas), I'd regard it as pretty much my due for all the interest I haven't gotten on all the money the banks have had the use of for decades. Yes, the banks are probably finding a way to compensate only some of their richer depositors when they should be compensating all of them, but that wouldn't negate the fact that at least some of it is going back to some of the people who've essentially lent the bank money almost interest-free (or, in the case of people who pay monthly fees, at what amounts to severely negative interest rates).

And while I agree it all has to cost SOME money, I have grave doubts that it necessarily has to cost what the banks think it should, as I see no reason to trust their judgment on the matter (especially as I'm seeing arguments that in Europe the fees are only about an eighth of US ones). At the very least I would like to see simple, easily comparable fees to allow for transparency. In my experience people will pay up much more cheerfully if they are totally clear on what they are paying for and why than they will if they constantly encounter obfuscation.