Bank of America announced Tuesday that it will drop its $5 debit card fee after more than 300,000 people from all 50 states joined a viral campaign on Change.org started by 22-year-old Bank of America customer Molly Katchpole.

The news follows a series of victories in copycat campaigns on Change.org calling on other major national banks to drop similar debit card fees. Citi, Chase, Wells Fargo and SunTrust all dropped debit card fees after Molly’s popular campaign inspired others to launch similar campaigns on Change.org against their banks.

“I knew that if enough people expressed their outrage to Bank of America, they would have to listen to their customers and reverse their debit fee plan,” said Molly Katchpole. “The American people bailed out Bank of America during a financial crisis the banks helped create. Bank of America paid zero dollars in federal income tax last year and thought they could squeeze more from the American people. The success off this campaign proves that ordinary people can successfully stand up to even the largest corporations.”

Molly’s campaign quickly became the largest consumer advocacy campaign ever run on Change.org, the world’s fastest-growing campaigns platform. At one point the campaign was attracting more than 3,000 new supporters an hour and more than 40,000 a day. Change.org said that the campaign serves as the latest evidence that social media platforms can match the power of major institutions like Bank of America.

"With people struggling economically across the country, the level of interest in this campaign is simply unprecedented,” said Change.org Founder Ben Rattray. “With no funding and while working two part-time jobs, a 22-year-old recruited hundreds of thousands of people from across the country to join her in challenging one of America's most powerful financial institutions. Not only did she win, but the success of her campaign drove all of the major banks into avoiding the same types of fees. Change.org is about empowering anyone, anywhere to demand action on the issues that matter to them, and Molly's campaign has clearly struck a nerve as a growing number of Americans take action to change our financial system."

Live signature totals from Molly Katchpole’s Bank of America campaign:
http://www.change.org/petitions/tell-bank-of-america-no-5-debit-card-fees

Journalists interested in contacting Bank of America’s public relations staff should try:

Scott Silvestri
Phone: 980.388.9921
scott.silvestri@bankofamerica.com

T.J. Crawford
Phone: 646.855.3301
tj.crawford@bankofamerica.com

Nicole Nastacie
Phone: 980.388.7252
nicole.nastacie@bankofamerica.com

Diane Wagner
Phone: 312.992.2370
diane.wagner@bankofamerica.com

For more information on Change.org, please visit: http://www.change.org/about.

Change.org is the world’s fastest-growing platform for social change — growing by more than 400,000 new members a month, and empowering millions of people to start, join, and win campaigns for social change in their community, city and country.

Change.org

Change.org

Change.org is the world's fastest-growing platform for social change -- growing by more than 400,000 new members a month, and empowering millions of people to start, join, and win campaigns for social change in their community, city and country.

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