The unveiling of Bank of America’s newest policy has not gone over well with the public.
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The Wall Street Journal reported that a particular checking account that was of great benefit to low-income bankers would no longer be free. The new policy would institute a $12 monthly fee for checking accounts unless they carried a minimum of $1,500 or received direct deposits greater than $250 each month.
The policy went into effect this month for all remaining eBanking customers. Some had their accounts switched over as early as 2015.
People sought clarification online.
@BofA_Help hi..i have a checking account and I am not going to receive any automatic transfers for next few months..any way I can avoid maintainace fee without maintaining minimum balance?
— Darshan Shah (@DarshanCShah) January 18, 2018
If you have the Bofa Core Checking account the only two ways to avoid the fee is to have a direct deposit deposited of $250.00 or more per statement cycle or maintain a minimum balance of $1500.00. The fee can also be waived if you're a student under 24. ^ds
— Bank of America Help (@BofA_Help) January 18, 2018
To understand the impact of the fee, some broke the numbers down over time.
https://twitter.com/natebecker/status/955465501869838337
$12 per month for a checking account?
Some math:
If you have $1,000 in the account, $12 is 1.2% of it—per month.
Multiply by 12 months: people without much money are charged an annual rate of 14.4% for the bank to hold their money and process checks. https://t.co/emxDj2Pw3w— Steve Inskeep (@NPRinskeep) January 23, 2018
Several called on current customers to leave Bank of America and open an account with a credit union in their area.
Everyone should join their local credit union.
— Be the person your dog thinks you are (@Ron_West_52) January 22, 2018
https://twitter.com/whatohek/status/955550753153867777
https://twitter.com/CelineDayJardnz/status/955582573597609984
Also: many, if not most, credit unions also belong to a national co-op shared branch network… so you can use ATMs across the country w/o “foreign” network fees.
— Spinach Inquisition (@NobodyExpectsIt) January 22, 2018
When one customer announced their intention to close their Bank of America account, the bank asked how they might keep the business relationship.
“Don’t be assholes to poor people,” Twitter user @WesAtt replied.
Credit union it is. Closing BOA accounts tomorrow.
— Wes (@WesAtt) January 22, 2018
Hello Wes. We’d like to keep you as a customer. Please let me know how I can help.^rr
— Bank of America Help (@BofA_Help) January 22, 2018
Don’t be assholes to poor people.
— Wes (@WesAtt) January 23, 2018
(H/T Twitter)
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