Bank of America

[honda03842]

We're Bank of America customers and have been since we began traveling, primarily because our local bank was purchased. BoA has worked well because they are virtually every where. This week proved their worth.

At 5:30 AM we hada a call while in the Pacific Time Zone from BoA to verify what they thought was a fraudulent purchase on our credit card. We told them that they were correct and we had not made that purchase. As a result they cancelled our credit card, no problem because we had another and they sent us two new ones.

A week later we stopped at a BoA bank to withdraw some money and our Debit cards were rejected. It turns out they had reached their expiration date and we had not received our mail in a couple of months so had not gotten our new cards. Mistake on our part. One needs to check these things before hitting the road.

We went into the BoA and were immediately able to get cash and could have gotten two temporary debit cards but declined because we had our mail forwarded to our next location.

BoA has worked well for us as long range travelers. They seem to be virtually everywhere we go. As well I'm impressed that a $93 fraudulent charge at Ambrocrombie and Fitch was detected, impressive.

[John_M]

They've done something similar for me as well. I had purchased something from Hong Kong online, and then went to the store - literally 30 minutes later. When went to check out my card was rejected! When I got home I called them and they said that they had tried to call me but there was no answer so they had shut down my card because of a purchase in Hong Kong, and an attempted purchase in a store 30 min later. Once I explained they were both me, I was back in business.

[Darwin Maring]

I sold an antique car to a guy in California, he sent be a BOA check and I took it to my local BOA and they were able to verify the check and give me the money right then. No hold on the check and no worry about it coming back to bite me.

[Dennis Clinton]

I was with B of A for over 40 years,but then they closed the local branch where I lived in CA. Now, in Utah, and they are not in the state-I wish they were!

[mary and bob]

BoA also caught a fraudulent charge to my credit card. Same as with Norm, they cancelled the card and sent me a new one. HOWEVER, my Bank of America stock has steadily declined in value. And when they took over our local Fleet bank, they got rid of all the employees that I had dealt with for years and replaced them with people that don't know me from any other customer. They also added a fee to my checking account that wasn't there before. So, some good, some bad. Bob

[Frederick L. Simson]

I've been holding a grudge against Bank of America for 35 years because they screwed up a mortgage on my first home. Since they took over Countrywide they hold the mortgage on my present house. But I don't do any other business with them.

[Cathi]

Bank of America cancelled my card for "fraudulent" charges but, in fact, it was unnecessary. Sometimes there are charges and the company then will reverse the charges as they find that they made a mistake. That is what happened in our case but BOA immediately cancelled the card, right before the company refunded the charges.

I have had BOA and a credit union freeze my accounts many times when I was overseas. They always think someone else is using my card. They have frozen it in the U.S. just because I charged at one gas station and then a few minutes later at another one. I find it a nuisance when they freeze my account and I cannot get cash and have to call them. They want my itinerary before I go on a trip.

As far as how they operate on fraudulent charges, I do not find them to be different from other institutions.

I use BOA for one of the same reasons that Norm and Ginny do: they are just about everywhere and they have more ATMs than other banks or CUs. Their interest, however, is nonexistent so it is best to keep most of your money elsewhere.

[ericw]

I travel internationally frequently on short notice and often call the credit card people to leave a note in my file that I typically go to these countries and spend money in these types of places (hotels restaurants...). The credit card people always express their gratitude that I called. I leave my phone numbers and now if they call (rarely) they at least call before they freeze my account. I've never had an account frozen inappropriately.

Note that I bank at BoA, but my credit cards are from a variety of places.

I agree that you can get better interest at other places. If you think you have a good one, I would love to know.

[GeorgeR]

We used to have BoA in Oregon but they really drag their feet to get the modern online banking (even thou California BoA had modern system in place) while my employer’s Credit Union had state of the art online banking, we switched and could not be happier since. For all extended travel we always share our itinerary.
George.

[honda03842]

We notify BoA when we travel outside of the USA. I hope it's clear they have never cancelled our card without calling us first though they did put a hold on the fraudulent purchase.

I'm sure potentially fraudulent charges are filtered by a computer according to a set of rules, actually to my way of thinking, it's darn amazing that they caught a $93 charge to a legitimate company.

[Cathi]

I am wondering about telling them that you are on a trip. Then if there are any charges that seem out of the ordinary, would they disregard them because of your notification that means, in effect, they need not worry about your charges? It seems to me that you are getting rid of your protection but it is a kind of Catch-22.

I figure that they must think I am being held at gunpoint when I withdraw cash--- because it requires a pin. That is the purpose of the pin, to keep others from using your card for such withdrawals. Charges on the card that do not require a pin are a different matter. They would shut my card down when withdrawals were made from an ATM.

[Mary F]

My mother is a BoA customer, and because I am a co-signer on her checking account (and because BoA screwed up) they have reported her interest earnings on MY social security number for the past 2 years. A simple phone call request isn't enough for them to correct their mistake, and they would not let my mom take the papers I need to sign. No, they had to mail them - to my mother's address, since they don't have mine. Stupid.