Debit use fees will cause consumers to switch banks and habits

A new poll has found that increases in the fees financial institutions charge consumers for using their debit cards may lead to more taking on credit card debt to make their day-to-day purchases.

A recent poll by the Research Intelligence Group has found that the vast majority of Americans find the proposed increase in fees for using debit cards to be distasteful, according to a report from Bloomberg News. About 43 percent of those polled said they would seek alternative payment methods including credit cards and cash, while roughly 30 percent assert that they would switch banks. Just 13 percent of those polled said they would pay the fees if they were "reasonable."

"There's a lot of consumer discontent within financial services and I think there’s a lot of frustration," Rob Kaplan-Sherman, president of the services division of the Research Intelligence Group, told the news agency. "People express that they're going to change their behavior, and that includes changing how and where they bank."

Many consumers who have been struggling to reduce debt may have fewer options when it comes to avoiding these fees, as credit card use may be out of the question for some.