Bank of America (BAC), intends to surcharge clients a $5 fee every month for making debit-card transactions beginning next year, according to an internal memo delivered to bank executives. Bank of America is attempting to cushion earnings damages it anticipates coming from recent limits on the service fees merchants pay whenever a purchaser utilizes a debit card at their establishments. Around June, the Federal Reserve Board finished regulations capping these kinds of service fees at 24 cents per transaction, in comparison with a current average of 44 cents. The new limits begin October 1, 2011 and are expected to eliminate $2 billion in revenue for the bank annually. The fee will apply to clients with non-premium bank accounts in every month they use their debit card to make a purchase. The fee will not apply to clients who just use it for making Atm machine financial transactions. “The economics of offering a debit card have changed with recent regulations,” a spokeswoman for Bank of America said in a statement Thursday. The fee will pertain to a variety of consumer banking accounts however will not apply to clients in certain premium accounts, the bank’s memo said. “This new service fee allows us to continue to offer the convenience of a debit card with the full range of added features customers have come to expect,” including fraud protection and monitoring, special savings programs and other services, the bank’s memo said. Other banks have introduced or are testing new fees in response to the debit-fee caps, which stem from a provision known as the Durbin amendment in last year’s Dodd-Frank financial regulation overhaul legislation. If congress would focus on budget issues and less on trying to central plan the economy maybe we would not be up to our eyeballs in debt.