One of my daughters is a constant target for Bank of America service charge rip offs. When she was going to college, we opened her an ATM card for her emergency use. Unbeknownst to us, the Branch Manager opened her a Money Market account. (For those who are not aware of this, Money Market accounts are harder to come by, so the branch gets more credit and points when they can open one). Every time she withdraw cash or used her card to purchase something, she was charged! We went back to the back eventually to find out why, as college checking accounts should not have a number of withdrawal limits, the branch told us she should not be withdrawing from her account as it is a Savings account! We argued to remove the fees as we were very clear when we opened the account what it was to be used for, we needed a plain ATM card not a Money Market account, the bank did not reverse the charges. The record is still sitting in my daughter's credit report as a bad credit history. That was two years ago. We have closed that account a long time ago.
A couple of years passed by and I have convinced my daughter to open a joint account with me in this same bank, so I could access the account to transfer money to her account when she needs it. She makes a habit now of going online to check her balance or doing a balance inquiry in the ATM machine to make sure she has the money before she spends any. Would you believe it, the bank still manages to charge her $35.00 6 or 7 times a day to a total of $245 overdraft fee for purchases less than $15.00! This Balance Inquiry feature in the bank should not be made available as the bank does not really make sure it is updated to the latest online purchase! Besides they have no limit to how much they could charge you in one day! My daughter was charged $245! That is 7 times in one day! Even credit cards have a maximum balance transfer fee! Is there not a law to protect struggling students or any bank customer? Why is this bank not regulated at all!
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