Thank you, Bank of America

[Iwillnevergiveup]

The $5 surcharge to customers on debit card use stands to rake in $1 billion for BofA.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hiltzik-20111016,0,376909.column

[PSPS]

1. The money they bribe politicians with has to come from somewhere.

[johnnyplankton]

6. It Gets Worse: Here's a New Press Release put out by them

http://www.fishandcheese.com/wordpress/2011/10/02/bank-of-america-announces-more-changes-will-roll-out-fellatio-banking/

[tularetom]

2. Not if all their depositors take a hike

It will take a hell of a long time for them to rake in $1 billion.

I don't have an account there but if I did, it would be gone so fast it would make their heads swim. And that's just because they even mentioned doing this.

Nobody has to bank with this den of thieves, there are plenty of credit unions and locally owned banks who would welcome their money and treat them better.

[wizstars]

13. I have half-seriously thought of opening an account at BoA just so I could close it....

[Iwillnevergiveup]

3. OWS Bank Transfer Day

Saturday, November 5. I'd go with Friday, November 4, if I weren't already in a credit union.

[Pacifist Patriot]

4. Annoyingly, I have a debt with them that I cannot hope to pay off for another 18 months.

I also highly doubt I could move it to another institution. When I pay that off I am sending them the biggest FU letter I can devise.

[sce56]

8. Cloose all accounts except the debt acount and setup auto pay from yur new credit union acct

At least look into it you might be able to do it..

[Pacifist Patriot]

10. I don't have any other accounts with BoA, just the one debt.

I'm overpaying as much as I can each month to get out of it as quickly as possible.

[peacetalksforall]

5. I love the timing of their decision. It was in the planning and decision process prior to OWS and

announcement made during the protests? Anyone know when they announced this hike?

[Iwillnevergiveup]

9. Looks to be Sept. 29

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/09/29/140927572/bank-of-americas-5-per-month-debit-card-fee-is-sign-of-the-times

[Mugsy]

7. I finally moved my money from BoA on Friday.

I finally moved my money from BoA on Friday.

I had meant to do it a year ago, when news of the big "CEO bonuses" broke, but I got lazy, decided it would be too big of a chore, and forgot about it.

But when news of the "$5 Debit Card Fee" broke, I finally got off my duff and made the move EVEN THOUGH I HAVE ENOUGH MONEY THAT THE NEW FEE WOULD NOT HAVE APPLIED TO ME. I did it because it was the right thing to do.

The new bank directly across the street from my BoA is a small(ish) local community bank. I checked them out online, and read they donate $1million to the local community every year. Plus they had online banking (which I use extensively), and don't charge a fee to use their Visa Debit Card. I opened an account there the next morning. I had to wait for any outstanding bills/payments to clear at BoA first, but Yesterday/Friday I made the move.

I had to go through an "agent" to close my account, a young guy about 10 years my junior in his mid 30's asked me why I was closing my account:

"I'm moving my money to a more socially responsible bank", I told him.

That must of been a new one to him. He laughed, smiled broadly, and asked (deliberately?) incorrectly: "A more 'sociable' bank?"

"Socially... Socially responsible bank", I corrected him.

"You know we're not the only ones who were bailed out?", trying to guess my reasoning.

"I know. I'm just tired of turning on the news every day and hearing another 'horror story' about Bank of America."

"Where are you moving your money to?"

"The bank right across the street", which I pointed to and named by name.

"You know they merged with XYZ?" (I missed the name of the major bank he cited, but a quick Google search when I got home found it was a lie.)

"I'll look into it.", I replied, smiling.

And that was it. I turned in my Debit card, picked up a Cashiers check for the full amount, left and deposited it across the street.

The hardest, most time-consuming part of the entire process was remembering what companies I had set up "automatic bill pay" with (like my ISP and PayPal), visit their websites and update my Debit Card info. THAT was the extent of my difficulty. (It might of been more trouble if I had CD's or a credit card.)

Should of done it 12 months ago.

[supernova]

11. Opened a credit union acct last Thurs

Will take about a month to fully transfer over, but as of now we are well on our way to leaving BoA. (I had to take it, it was hubby's).

I hope they have a mass exodus that causes their shareholders nightmares.

[Iwillnevergiveup]

12. Bears repeating

Assuming they hang onto the number of customers it has now, BofA stands to rake in $1 billion from the $5.00 debit card fee.

$1,000,000,000.

How many families could stay in their homes with that amount of cash?

[meow2u3]

15. Opening credit union account this week

I found a CU and it just takes $5 to open a savings account and become a member. Then I'll open a checking account and make deposits there.

It'll probably take me a month to close my bank account at Wells Farto, which was Wachovia until the former took over the latter.
I don't like the fees they're hiding in my account. I can't even find some of the hidden fees.

[The Wizard]

14. Start calling their customer service

keep them on the phone as long as possible. Keep asking questions and pretend to not understand their answers. Write checks and go in and ask for change. Anything and everything to cost the scumbags money. That $5 fee will cost them more than they ever realize for its imposition.

[Iwillnevergiveup]

16. Only problem - you don't get a live customer service person

when you call banks. You get customer non-service. Unlike when you call a credit union - fast, fast service.