On the heels of JPMorgan Chase offering mortgage help to members of the military and their families, Bank of America has decided to do some things to help those who serve our country when it comes to their mortgages.

Two main things that the bank is doing include offering lower interest rates to military members as well as an offer to reduce the mortgage principal. The announcement came last week as the military customer base has become a demographic that now has its own customer service department. Here are a few more details of BofA’s offerings to military members and their immediate families:

• For military borrowers who are leaving active duty, BofA is going to offer a reduction in their mortgage rates as well as a longer term to pay back their mortgage so their monthly payments will be more affordable.
• Those military members who are leaving active duty may be eligible to receive forgiveness on their principal as much as 100 percent of the value of the property. To be eligible, the borrower must be late on their payments. This particular measure is designed to help those military families who are underwater in their mortgages.
• In order to receive any of these benefits, the military members must be eligible for the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act benefits.

Terry Laughlin, the executive vice president of Bank of America, said the new measures to help the military borrowers are the latest in the bank’s “long-standing commitment to the United States military forces” and the benefits will help ease the financial burden on “those who are protecting our freedoms.” The odd part about this story is that it was only two days prior to the announcement of these new benefits when BofA executives said that reducing mortgage principles would create a “moral hazard” in the housing industry. Some executives said that if special consideration is given to some people who fall behind in their mortgage payments, what would stop other borrowers from falling behind simply so they can get their debt reduced as well? However, if any home loan borrowers deserve this kind of protection, they are the ones who serve our country without fail.

The new program is scheduled to begin on April 1. The bank has put together a team that is specifically designed for working with military mortgage loans to help those who are leaving active duty make their payments once they return home.

Most consumers are familiar with a debit card. In many cases it is more important than the starter check package. One gets their card in the mail, calls the number on the back, removes the sticker, signs the back and then has immediate access to their funds. Many cards come with reward programs, like for every five dollars spent one gets a point. Reach 5,000 points and get a free toaster. Recent legislation is shaking up the debit card world.

In 2009, U.S consumer spending via debit cards rose to $1.45 trillion. The average debt transaction was about $38 - $44. Consumers simply like using their plastic to make purchases. While one would think that the credit card companies would cringe at the thought of people using a debit card versus a credit card, it's not the case. The credit card companies along with the issuing banks back debit cards, so they are getting paid per transaction as well.

What does differ between debit and credit cards is that in a credit situation, only the credit card company gets money per transaction. With a debit card, the issuing bank gets a fee. However, following the now infamous collapse of 2008, the Dodd-Frank legislation proposed in congress calls for a cap on debit card swipe fees. The deadline to formally determine this cap rate is April 2011.

The goal of the legislation is to limit the fees charged small businesses. Debit card swipe fees directly impact small business revenue, and this trickles down into a loss of hours for employed workers or the lack of funds to hire more, thus adding to the stagnant employment situation.

Currently the average fee is about $0.44 or 1% of the transaction. The proposed fee is $0.12 per transaction. Banks argue that limiting this fee will cause them to lose revenue and they will have to make it up by raising other fees (i.e. ATM fees) to cover the lost revenue. Some may decide to not issue debit cards.

Yet, all banks (and credit unions) are not created equal. The debit card legislation is focused on banks with $10 billion or more in total revenue. Banks like JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America are far above that threshold which may be one reason that on February 8, 2011 they stopped issuing debit rewards. They realize they will probably only get about 25% of the fees they were getting before the cap was proposed. However, this ten billion level opens the door for the local and regional banks, most of which fall well below that amount. They may still charge 1% of the cost of the transaction. As they will not be subject to the cap, they can offer perks to not only retain customers, but also attract those from larger banks.

Ironically, banks would still prefer that consumers use a debit card verse a credit card, because 12 cents or 44 cents is still money in their pocket (and out of the retailers). However at 44 cents there is much more of a push. That's why it's hard to see debit card rewards programs or debit cards going entirely away. But if this new legislation passes, look for the best debit card deals from the local bank down the street.

Remember when you got a free toaster for opening an account at a bank? Maybe it was a savings account, maybe a line of credit, but you got something as a thank you. Back then, one knew the bankers, the tellers and the account representatives. These days I can’t even keep up with the name of my bank – forget that toaster. Yet, banks are realizing that they are in effect a dime a dozen and have to differentiate themselves. Sovereign Bank is slowly impressing me with their products and push to get people back to a bank, rather than one in cyberland.

Sovereign has created a savings account promotion that triples their standard savings rate (of a fantastically dismal 0.30%) to a moderately acceptable 0.90%. To my dismay I can’t believe sub 1% is acceptable! The original marketers at the bank came up with the name “Triple Your Interest Savings” for the product.

The process to get this triple rate is surprisingly lacking in hoops to jump through, although you must have a Sovereign checking account. One must set up reoccurring automatic transfers from the linked Sovereign checking account. If the sum of the automatic monthly transfers is between $50.00 - $99.99, the interest rate doubles to 0.60%. If the sum of the automatic monthly transfers is $100.00 or greater, then the interest rate triples to the advertised 0.90%. There is a modest $10 opening balance required and if no automatic monthly transfers are scheduled there is a maintenance fee of $3.50. While this interest rate seems very low (and it is), all savings and money market accounts are.

At the same bank, the Premier Money Market Savings account, is offering a rate of 1.10% if your balance is $100,000 or greater. That same account interest tiering system is: 1.00% APY for balances of $50,000 - $99,999.99, 0.90% APY for balances between $10,000 – $49,999.99 and 0.35 APY for balances less than $10,000. This must be linked to a Premier Checking Account and if the aggregate amount of the Money Market and checking account is less than $15,000 – you win a $30 fee.

This 0.90% rate is close to the ING (1.00%) and FBNO Direct (1.10%) and allows actual physical interaction with a person. Imagine that! All of the information for his account may be found at http://www.sovereignbank.com/personal/banking/savings/triple-your-interest-savings.asp.