CHICAGO — An executive with the Consumer Federation of America told payment industry executives attending the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago's 2009 Payments Conference that consumers' best choice for a payment method today is cash.
Jean Ann Fox, director of financial services for the CFA, drew gasps from the attendees when she argued that charging overdraft fees for debit transactions, very high interest rates and fees on credit cards and other measures made cash the consumers' best option.
Fox persisted in her view even after some in the audience asked her if she had ever been mugged.
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She responded that she never had been mugged, but added that she had heard many stories from consumers who had used their debit cards for small transactions believing that their financial institutions would not permit them to overdraw their accounts only to find that their small transaction had cost them $35 or $40.
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