Components

Part A
Part B

Bank of America’s Debit Card Fee (A) and (B)

Bonanno, J,, Guindon, J., Riley, P., Stevens, J. and O’Rourke, J.S. (Editor)
February 2, 2018
SKU:
BUS-004071
Region: 
North America
Topic: 
Strategy & General Management
Length: 
11 pages
Keywords: 
Conflict Management, crisis management, customer communication, customer management, customer relations, financial
Copyrighted by: 
Notre Dame
Student Price: 
$4.00 (€3.61)
Average rating: 
0

In the fall of 2011, Bank of America announced a plan to begin charging customers $5 per month on debit card accounts. The announcement met with sharp public outrage. Due to the backlash, Bank of America was faced with a difficult dilemma: proceed as planned and face a public relations nightmare - or cancel the fee program, lose billions, and be forced to answer to shareholders.

Learning Outcomes: 
  1. Demonstrate the importance of listening and developing an understanding of customer perspective to guide corporate communications;
  2. Illuminate the business risks that arise when individual business units make decisions without concern for customer perception;
  3. Encourage a company-wide corporate culture that promotes thoughtful consideration for customer relations and corporate communication;
  4. Demonstrate how adherence to the “Page Principles” can prevent a corporate communications mishap;
  5. Illustrate how a mismanaged business issue can quickly become a major corporate communication issue.