My Bank Of America Story
When I was 18 years old, I opened a checking account with Fleet Bank (now Bank of America). Since then, Ive added a Savings account, Credit Card account, and Brokerage Account. Recently, a series of transactions forever tarnished my view of the banking industry.
It all started when I went negative on my checking account. While I had over a thousand dollars in my savings account, overdraft protection was not turned on. I had a couple small transactions ($1.05, $2.60, $5.24, $3.15,$7.43, $6.38). The total amount negative was $11.08. For each of these six transactions, I was charged a $35 overdraft fee, for a total of $210. The percentage made by Bank of America for each charge is as follows respectively:
3333%, 1346%, 668%, 1111%, 471%, and 547%
After 2 hours of arguing, over two separate phone calls and an actual trip to the bank, they reduced the fees by half, to do me a favor. Hmm, I think that BoA did no favor by legally making over 1800% in fees off the back of a hard working customer.
First of all, Im shocked it is even legal to charge such high fees. BoA defends the charges saying that it would have been a $35 fee even if the transaction was $1000. How does that make it right in this case? To further the insult, BoA is offering $100 to people who open a new checking account with them, but they won't reverse the fees of this customer of six years.
I'm also saddened because the fees are excessive, and designed to catch the people who are already at the fringe of society and running their balances low. When I asked why these transactions weren't declined like a credit card would be, BoA claims that they do not have that ability. I think thats a lie, and that the company is just looking to make a quick buck any way possible.
In short, I refuse to support such a monstrous institution that doesnt care about its customers.
Interesting NY Times artile (click)
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