Bank of America - Regular Checking

Average Score:

•   Sneaky Fees!

  Do you carefully read every word on your statement and every notice your bank every sent you? If you've missed one, this is NOT the bank for you! Close all your BOA accounts especially if you're going overseas!!

  I opened a BOA account a year ago and left it untouched for a few months. Then I realized somehow they started charging me monthly fees ($8 or $12/month, I don't remember). I ran to a branch and it turns out that they increased the minimum balance. So I increased my balance to a few hundred above the minimum and left it untouched.
  This is about a year later and I realized they've been charging me $14/month for 4-5 months! So apparently they've increased their minimum balance yet again! I back track for their notices and found that there was only one sentence added onto my statement a few months back to notify me of the change!! I once again tried to increase my balance and get the fees credit back to my account, but the rep said he can only give me one months worth. What the hell is this? I have essentially been charged an idling fee of $42 for having money sit in their hands.
  BOA, why don't you create a floating minimum balance, so customers will never know what fees they should expect?
  Grandpa was right, cash under the mattress was the best storage solution. Sayonara BOA!
  

  Posted by write2lucy2 -- March 9, 2011

•   A wise option to choose

  I am an international student studying at Lamar University. I came to United States in July 2008 and I opened my regular checking and regular saving account from Bank of America to keep track of my money spendings.

  When I first opened an account with bank of america, they offered me with a $10 as appreciation for opening the account. The greatest option that I find with bank of america is the online banking. It's really great and helpful to full extent. They also have a customer care service available at all the times and online chat representative to help you at almost all the times. The representatives at the bank are very helpful to customers.

  Once I lost my debit card and I didn't notice. After a day I called to a bank representative and complained about my lost card, but I found some transactions through my card after it was lost. Regarding this I filed a dispute in the bank of america and they returned my money back to me. That was really a appreciable thing.

  The way the bank of america posts the transactions on the online banking is really great and easy to access for any individual.

  One more best thing about bank of america is the Keep the change transfer, therefore you don't loose your change during purchases.

  The only thing I don't like about bank of america is the overseas transactions. They charge you a lot for each transaction you do overseas.

  I suggest, recommend and refered most my friends to open an account at Bank of America.

  Thank you BANK OF AMERICA

  Posted by swetha_reddy_bits -- Aug. 6, 2009

•   Horrible customer service!

  I had a checking account with BofA for almost 5 years. I originally got the account when I was joining the Air Force, and I chose it because of it's nationwide availability and large amount of locations. However, overall, they treated me horribly! They were rude, seemed to be trying to charge me extra fees on purpose, and didn't want to help me when I had special circumstances come up. It seemed that all they cared about was making money! I do not recommend that ANYONE use Bank of America, unless they enjoy being treated badly.

  Posted by jnnfr965 -- Aug. 5, 2009

•   Bank of America not consumer friendly at corporate level

  I became a Bank of America customer when they acquired Barnett Bank, the bank where I held my original account. I held this checking account for many 5+ years. Because of the nature of my compensation, there were some times when my account was short of funds. Even though I had overdraft protection, the overdraft would be drawn from the wrong accounts, or charged to high interest credit lines. This would result in high penalties and transaction fees that I would have to go and straighten out in person as I could not get the corporate sites to cooperate. The local tellers and branch managers were always polite, helpful and able to correct the mistakes, but the fee charging and mistakes became so frequent that I terminated all my savings, credit and checking accounts. I now bank at a local credit union and my checking account now bears interest and is much easier to handle.

  Posted by ca6120 -- Aug. 5, 2009

•   The benefits using a Bank of America checking account.

  After conducting extensive research on the best accounts available in the market, the Bank of America regular checking account, seemed to be one of the best. I kept this account open for approximately three years and was fortunate to have had a good, stress free, experience. To me personally, reliability, convenience, adequate security, are key reasons for choosing a bank and this company, in these areas, certainly gets high marks.

  It offers a wide variety of features, including paperless statements for current balance details. Each time, the balance changed, an email message was sent to a designated personal email address. The option to have your statements accessed online, is certainly a welcome feature, especially when all personal financial information on the bank's website, including checking account information, is constantly protected by an advanced security program, that seamlessly is running in the background.

  Additionally, the overall access to my account through ATM machines or by phone, always was smooth, without any problems. The user friendly features on the website and over the phone, made it very easy to not only access information, make withdrawals, deposits, but also all transactions were properly recorded within any given cycle.

  There are two layers of security, when attempting to access the account, which certainly illustrates their ongoing commitment to keep their customer’s information safe and protect their records from hackers. The customer service department was always helpful, well informed as to the various products they offer and eager to effectively address any concerns.

  Sometimes when an overdraft charge was assessed to the account, an email was always sent to my personal email address. However, the charge itself was rather large and on occasion, when attempting to dispute these charges with the customer service reps, was unsuccessful in getting them reversed.

  While on vacation in another country, the debit card was used to make purchases. A local merchant overcharged the debit card. When the bank was contacted and informed of the transaction dispute, they investigated the matter and credited the account. I would definitely recommend this specific checking account, offered by Bank of America to consumers. This bank has a proven track record and stands by it’s products.

  Posted by jkplease -- July 31, 2009

•   Best Customer Service - Maximum Security

  I have been Bank of America customer since Aug 2008. When I moved from India to USA, I was suggested to go for BOA which has maximum ATMs throughout the USA and easy to open. I found it was very convenient and easy to open a bank account in BOA and Staff was very cordial.
  The features I liked the most are two levels of security with sitecode and password, complete paperless procedures, easy way to deposit the checks, no of ATMs, excellent customer service. Also we can pay almost all the bills online . Once I had a problem in logging in to the BOA site, I tried and failed several times and finally I had to change the password several times and finally gave up. I did not have phone in reach and I need to open the account immediately so I decided to take the Live chat help. I could found the help in few minutes and all set and no more holding the phone till I get a line to talk to bank officer. Also every time BOA comes up with new feature set to surprise the customers. I got good reference bonuses when I refer a friend also I got good opening bonus. My overall experience with BOA so far is very satisfactory and I would recommend 100% to go for BOA.
  On the other side this bank provide less number of checks to the customers to encourage online bill payment which sometimes becomes disadvantage for some people.

  Posted by snv.karri -- July 29, 2009

•   6 years and counting...

  I first got a Bank of America checking account right before college, which was about 6 years ago. My parents and I choose to go with Bank of America because as we toured my campus, which is in the middle of the big city, we saw scores of Bank of America ATM's, almost on every corner. There was even one in the lobby of my school.

  My experience with Bank of America has been great overall. I love the online banking. It is super easy and user friendly. My bills automatically come out at the end of each month.

  I have recently opened another checking account with my partner. It is extremely easy to shuffle money around from one account to another. I also secured a Bank of America credit card. They all show up together on my online checking which is awesome.

  On the other hand, over withdrawing from your account will cost you big. I once thought a check had gone through and ended up paying over 100 dollars in charges.

  Last month my girlfriend and I took a trip to California and when i got there, I used my checking card about 3 times. We had to pay for parking, gas, snacks, etc. The forth time it got rejected, and there was no possible way there was no money in the account. I tried to call the number on the back of my card but unfortunately they had already closed.

  It would have been a disaster if I really needed more money at the point but I put off dealing with the situation until the next day. When I woke up the next morning I had found they had left me an E-Mail and a Voicemail on my home phone. The security fraud had kicked in. After dealing with customer service for about a half hour I got this removed.

  I would recommended Bank Of America strictly for the convenience of their location. They are everywhere throughout the United States. Another service to consider is their superb online banking system. I couldn't imagine have a bank without it.
  

  Posted by stardanca34 -- July 21, 2009

•   It was ok at first

  I've been a member of Bank of American for about eight years. I chose it because of it's convenience. There was an ATM on the campus I went to, and my work also banked with Bank of America. In fact, that is probably the best thing about banking with them. They are all over the place. Most cities I travel to have a Bank of America, so I never have to worry about where I'm going to get my money. The worst thing about them is their customer service. Most recently a merchant accidently charged my debit card for over $1000 when I should've only been charged $100. The correction was made within three days, but caused problems with some of my other bills. When I called Bank of America to resolve the issue, they wouldn't or couldn't. I was transferred to about three different departments with each department telling me that THEY can't do anything, and the other department can help. Frustrating. I was finally asked to call back in a few days, I asked if they can put notes in their system stating what the issue was so that someone in another department can read it and help. They said no. Apparently the system each department uses is different. There's no way to communicate the information to another department.

  If this were an ideal world where banking issues never, ever happened, then maybe I would recommend Bank of America. But, since odd things can happen and Bank of America is not capable of providing good customer service, or even have systems that work together, I say go somewhere else.

  Posted by abush22 -- July 17, 2009

•   A Bank of America Experience from a College Student's Point of View

  I have had my Bank of America checking account for almost 7 years now. I originally opened the account right before I went off to college in Florida. I choose Bank of America, because my Dad had an account there for years and it was the largest bank in my small home town. At first, I was very pleased with my banking experience. Online banking was always easy to use and the convenience of the locations and ATMs saved me a lot of trouble. However, once I decided to start building my credit history by choosing a Bank of America credit card, my experiences with my account soured. While the amenities for the account are great, they don't come without a price, and while other banks had no fees, Bank of America had some of the highest maintenance fees for a regular checking account. Along with that, once I couldn't make the payments for my credit card, the bank took away services they always provided for my checking account (e.g. while I can cash my checks at other banks, I can not do so with my Bank of America account and must cash them somewhere else and was given no explanation why). Overall, if you are looking for a reliable bank in this turbulence financial time, I would recommend Bank of America since it is largest bank in the world, at the moment. However, if you do open an account, DO NOT get a credit card with them as well, because if something happens you won't get the same quality customer service as before.

  Posted by classicalalison -- July 16, 2009

•   A great experience

  I've had this account for 12 or 13 years and never had any serious problems. The account is basically free, as long as you use it to direct deposit your paychecks and don't need to talk with tellers very often. Anytime I've had issues or felt I was inappropriately charged a fee, the customer service people were attentive and always waived the fee. I use this account for all my online banking needs and it's really easy and reliable to use. You can link it with online savings accounts and transfer your money easily and rapidly. I use it to pay all my bills, and have never had any problems. However, I would caution people against using online banking to send money to a private individual or small company -- to pay rent for example. BofA holds payments to see if others are paying to the same person or business, so they can batch the payments together. That means your rent payments will probably be late. This happened to me -- and it was really annoying to have to go back to writing a rent check again! But other than that small issue, I've never had any problems with the account, or Bank of America in general.

  Posted by carlosmentos -- July 14, 2009

•   The Biggest Bank Helped Me Decide to Continue My Credit Union Relationship

  I opened this account 18 months ago because I wanted an account with a national presence since I often travel for business. I was also tempted by the $25 bonus offer for opening the account and the Keep the Change 100% match at the one-year anniversary of the account opening.

  BoA has grown too big for its own good and many of the items in the member agreement appear bank-friendly as opposed to facilitating a strong customer relationship. I have only incurred one overdraft fee because of my fault and I accept full responsibility for it.

  The fee structure is draconian and opportunistic. Fees for extended negative balances, for example, only bring in more money for the bank and do not help those who made a simple arithmetic error. The onus is always on the customer to ensure sufficient funds are available, but to impose an additional fee for a negative balance after three days seems almost predatory.

  I am grateful I am so conscious of my spending and accounting that I have only been assessed one of the many fees BoA has available.

  The best aspects of BoA are 1) they can be found in many locations I travel, 2) their Keep the Change matching program provides extra cash, 3) their online banking interface is intuitive, 4) the wide variety of products and 5) the ability to customize cards.

  The worst part of my BoA relationship is knowing if I make a mistake, there are a number of fees the bank can assess, digging those who are financially struggling even deeper to cure their negative account status.

  Also not high on my list of negative aspects of banking with BoA is the long wait meet with a teller. On average, I can listen to an entire song and one half on my iPhone before I reach the head of the line. This equates to approximately 6 minutes I could be doing something else. This does not involve the travel time nor the time to perform the requested transactions.

  Two positive experiences were receiving my matching Keep the Change contribution on my anniversary date when I had forgotten about it. I woke up one morning and discovered an extra $200 in my account. Very nice.

  Also, I had the NSF charge credited to my account after I politely requested it from their customer service department. There was no hesitation on their part and, to their credit, they offered to link my checking and savings accounts to avoid overdrafts; however, there is a fee assessed to use funds from the linked savings account.

  If you need a national presence bank, never make a mistake with your accounting and have the funds to make this your primary account, then I recommend beginning a banking relationship with BoA.

  If you are not perfect with your record keeping, averse to a laundry list of fees and prefer to have minimal wait times, I suggest another bank or, even better, a local credit union.

  Posted by michael.estoy -- July 12, 2009

•   Fees Fees Fees, and then they also have Fees

  I have had this account for a while and recently BOA has been changing fees associated with the account. It's getting ridiculous, and hard to keep track of what I pay in fees. I would not recommend BOA for any banking.

  With that said, I first chose BOA because they are a national bank, and they had a branch near my house, and one near the college I was going to attend. I never really had any problems with it until recently.

  When I have had problems and have called the customer service, I get mixed responses. Sometimes the customer service people will help and other times, when you are having the same problem, they could not seem to care less about you, they even will try o make you feel like the problem was your fault.

  I have had the same hit and miss service from the associates inside my local branch. I recently started my own business, and BOA was not even a consideration for a bank to open my business account with because they have shown me such poor customer service. For what it is worth, if you are considering a checking account, look for a free account with another bank, it will save you future troubles.
  

  Posted by ultimatepete -- July 2, 2009

•   Adequate. Nothing Spectacular.

  It was a dumb reason, but I chose to bank with Bank of America because they offered a Hello Kitty themed account and because I already had a credit card with them. I've heard lots of bad things about Bank of America's practices, especially the part about hitting its members with overdraft fees. However, I personally haven't had any trouble with the account or fees. My only dislike is that they require you to have a minimum checking account balance, otherwise you're charged a fee.

  The customer service is easy to reach and does a good job of ensuring my account is safe. Every time I call them about my account they make sure to ask lots of security questions to ensure it's really me that's calling. The representatives are also generally polite and helpful.

  One thing that does bother me, though, is that Bank of America uses my information to solicit me. I've received several calls from their telemarketers trying to sell me accidental death insurance or credit monitoring, and they continue to keep calling me even after I've said I wasn't interested.

  Online banking is very important to me as I check my account balance often. Bank of America's works smoothly and I've had no problems with it. I like that they implement a personal site key image at the log-in screen to keep their customers from being fooled by fake pages.

  Posted by hasu_kinomoto -- June 3, 2009

•   Why I Love Online Banking

  I have been banking at Bank of America for over 10 years. The best feature with this bank in my opinion is the online banking. Because I'm able to see all of my transactions at a glance. Whenever there is a dispute about a bill, it is quite easy to pull the records up and have a copy of any checks written or electronically sent immediately sent to me or the payee.

  The thing I don't like about the bank is the always changing rules. When things were really doing good, the bank offered high interest rates, easy mortgage loans and Line of credit. When these services were really needed, the bank either changed or canceled the services.

  The fees at Bank of America are extremely high and seem to get higher every year. A returned check for nonsufficient funds cost a whopping $33. There are monthly charges for having a checking account which are high.

  The drive through is a really great option. You can even deposit cash into your checking account and get a picture of the money printed right on the receipt. This is a big convenience. With online banking and drive through, there are only rare occasions when I have to go inside the bank anymore. If you deposit a check through the drive in, it will read the amount and also print a copy of the check on your receipt.

  The bank needs longer hours and to be open on Saturdays. Telephone support is the worse. You are placed on hold or routed to way too many people with wrong answers.

  Posted by aroseteam -- June 2, 2009