San Francisco Chronicle: BofA squeezes another buck out of noncustomers. Bank of America is leading the way, pushing up its ATM charge for noncustomers to $3 from $2 at 10,700 of its cash machines across the country as of last July. Other big banks are expected to follow suit.

The “money” quote is that Bank of America “argued that higher fees benefit its customers by driving away noncustomers who might clog up its branches.” How much does Bank of America spend on advertising and marketing to lure new customers? And, the moment a prospect walks into a branch, the Bank turns around and tries to nickel-and-dime them to drive them away and prevent them from clogging up their branches? How about wowing them with excellent service? If I was running B of A, I would want all these people to walk away thinking “Damn, my bank doesn’t treat me this well. I really should move my account here.” If you don’t like customers, you shouldn’t be in the customer service business.