Transcript: George Stephanopoulos' ABC News / Yahoo! News Exclusive Interview With President Obama - ABC News
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: You might have a new issue on your plate over the weekend. Bank of America now is doing a $5 service fee for using your debit cards. Drawing-- a lot of outrage, a lot of questions. And basically the questions boil down to what Vikki Manko of Naperville, Illinois asks. "These are the types of things government should get involved in and put a stop to." Can you put a stop to that?
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well-- what we did was we put a stop through-- The Financial Reform Act of them charging fees-- for credit cards.
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: And the banks are saying--
PRESIDENT OBAMA: And so-- Well-- what-- what the banks are saying is-- that "Rather than take a little bit less of a profit. Rather than paying multimillion dollar bonuses. Let's treat our customers right." And this is exactly why we need this consumer finance-- protection bureau that we set up that is ready to go. And what we need is a confirmation of the person I've appointed, Rich Cordray treasurer of Ohio. Back in Ohio, Republicans and Democrats both think he's terrific and he's fair. But this is exactly why we need somebody who's sole job it is to prevent this kind of stuff from happening.
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Can you stop this service charge?
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, you can stop it because it-- if you-- if you say to the banks, "You don't have some inherent right just to-- you know, get a certain amount of profit. If your customers-- are being mistreated. That you have to treat them fairly and transparently." And-- and my hope is is that you're going to see a bunch of-- the banks, who say to themselves, "You know what? This is actually not good business practice." Banks can make money. They can succeed, the old-fashioned way, by earning it. By lending to small businesses. By lending to consumers. By making sure that-- you know, we are building the economy together. But-- you know, without the kinds of protections that we're starting to see the Republicans try to roll back-- we're going to continue to have these kinds of problems. And this is exactly-- the sort of stuff that folks are frustrated by. This, by the way, is an example of the-- the contrasting visions that we have. If-- if-- if-- the Republican Party believes that we should do nothing to curb abuses on Wall Street and roll back regulations put in place to prevent the next big financial crisis, well, I've got a big difference with them. And I think the American people are going to be on my side on that.
