Well it's been one year since I went on my crusade to stop what I think is an immoral and greedy practice by banks (turns out Bank of America.) is not the only one. Debiting customers accounts from highest transaction amount to lowest, is I am referring to.
I initially contacted my state representative, who had no jurisdiction over the matter. Nest, I contacted my state AG, who then referred me to the Comptroller of the Currency. I live in TX. I din't know if all states have this Comptroller, but I am sure you Attourney General would be able to tell you who regulates the banking industry in your state. The Comtrollers here in TX are the administrators of National Banks. Anyway, they read my complaint, sent a copy to Bank of America, and basically told me that B of A was within their legal guidelines (and they are). But is that really the point?
Well low and behold, B of A's David Selman, Assistant Vice President, sent me a letter saying they had reviewed my account. They re-itterated their policy of debiting accounts from high to low, said I needed to keep a register, but gave me a $280.00 credit to cover all of those overdraft fees caused by their high to low policy. This was a shock to me, and I appreciate Mr. Selman's kind gesture.
Banks claim they are doing their customers a favor by debiting accounts in this manner. I am sure they have good intentions, while they are lining their pockets with billions of $ in overdraft fees. Yes, I am being sarcastic. If B of A, and other banks have citizen's best interest at heart, then why not change their policy to debiting lowest to highest? Because you, the complainer, have not complained enough.
Call your congress person. Contact the AG's office, and finally, contact your state's Comptroller of the Currency. We may not be able to recoup money's lost in the past, but perhaps can put enough pressure on our lawmaker's to exert pressure on the banking industry to make this one little change.
Hopefully, there is an up and coming young attourney who wants to make a name for himself, by representing a large number of people (100's of 1000's) in a class action suit against the banking industry. She probably wouldn't win, but would earn him or herself a name as a courageous advocate to the common citizen.
There was lawyer in CA that stood up to B of A's check cashing policy, and won. They were charging people with B of A payroll checks, but didn't have accounts with them, a fee. The people won, and B of A doesn't do this anymore. Why? Because it was wrong! And so is debiting accounts from highest amounts to lowest. So just because it is their policy, doesn't make it right, for all of you folks who are going to tell me to keep enough $ in my account. You, obviously haven't been screwed, with this unjust practice.
Banks are blood sucking, greedy, bastards, no different than loan sharks. But, the fact is, we need them. After I finished my crusade with them, I took all of my money out of the bank and kept cash, as a matter of principal. As a result, I was not able to get a loan with another bank, because they don't really believe you when you say you've got 1000's of $'s stashed away in a jar. Not to mention, it's not a prudent, or safe option.
So, the money is back in the bank. The register is maintained faithfully, and banks are getting richer by the day on suckers like us.
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