Banks charge to withdraw unemployment benefits

As if being unemployed isn't enough of a headache, the Associated Press is reporting that Bank of America and other banks are charging the unemployed small fees to withdraw their unemployment benefits with a debit card set up between the bank and the state that administers the money.

The story reports how Arthur Santa-Maria was charged 50 cents for calling Bank of America to ask for the balance of his new unemployment benefits debit card. He took out some of the money (cha-ching, 50 cents), and then decided to pull out the rest (50 cents more), a $1.50 total for taking his money out.

Thirty states have struck deals with banks that include Citigroup Inc., Bank of America Corp., JP Morgan Chase and US Bancorp to give the unemployed debit cards. Some charge overdraft fees of up to $20.