Oct. 3 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama said U.S. banks should treat customers “fairly” and seek to profit “the old-fashioned way” through loans to businesses.

Asked about Bank of America Corp.’s plan to charge a $5 monthly charge for some debit-card users, Obama said: “My hope is that you’re going to see a bunch of the banks say this is not good business practice.”

Obama spoke during an interview on the websites of ABC News and Yahoo.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kate Andersen Brower in Washington at kandersen7@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Bob Drummond at bdrummond@bloomberg.net