Nice timing to report mountainously high bank earnings on the day the U.S. Senate listens to retailers explain about the unfair merchant interchange charges.
Bank of America's® revenues rose 25% during the last quarter.
SunTrust Banks, Inc.® total noninterest income for the quarter increased $30.0 million, or 6% which was driven primarily by interchange income due to increased volumes.
With major banks quarterly results being announced, we were not surprised with these types of windfall earnings. Just look at the banks credit card business and the fees they force on merchants and consumers. For example, with record fuel costs, motorists are more likely to use a credit card to pay for the service stations fill up. Because the banks charge a percent of each transaction, the added billions in new revenues are finding its way to the financial institutions' income statement.
[Source: WayTooHigh.com, with link to AP]
