Bank of America Announces Sweeping Changes to Overdraft Services in 2022, Including Eliminating Non-Sufficient Funds Fees and Reducing Overdraft Fees

[lightbright]

Suddenly they've decided to stop outright raping us or are they just practicing safe sex and are wearing condoms now????


With New Changes, Company Will Have Reduced Overdraft Fee Revenues by 97% from 2009 Levels
January 11, 2022 at 7:30 AM Eastern
Bank of America today announced significant changes to its overdraft services, including plans to eliminate non-sufficient funds (NSF) fees beginning in February, and to reduce overdraft fees from $35 to $10 beginning in May. The company will also eliminate the transfer fee associated with its Balance Connect™ for overdraft protection service in May. These and earlier changes over the last decade, together with industry-leading solutions that can help consumer clients avoid overdraft fees – such as the no overdraft fee SafeBalance® account and Balance Assist™ – will lead to overdraft fee revenues being reduced by 97% from 2009 levels.
“Over the last decade, we have made significant changes to our overdraft services and solutions, reducing clients’ reliance on overdraft, and providing resources to help clients manage their deposit accounts and overall finances responsibly,” said Holly O’Neill, President of Retail Banking, Bank of America. “Throughout the process we have engaged our National Community Advisory Council (NCAC) for their guidance and feedback on our changes. These latest steps will further support our clients and empower them to create long-term financial wellness.”
Progress toward reducing overdraft fees
Since 2010, Bank of America has taken many steps to empower its consumer and small business clients to bank with greater confidence and reduce overdraft usage. The company leads the industry in helping clients avoid overdrafts and, in doing so, has significantly reduced the vast majority of fees related to overdraft. Key milestones along this journey have included:

• 2010 – Eliminated overdraft fees for consumer clients when using debit cards at the point of sale
• 2011 – Introduced courtesy low balance alerts
• 2014 – Launched the SafeBalance “no overdraft fee” account
• 2017 – Eliminated the extended overdrawn balance charge
• 2020 – Created Balance Assist, a low-cost solution to manage short-term liquidity needs
• 2021 – Launched Balance Connect for overdraft protection, letting clients link to up to five accounts to avoid overdrafts
• Feb 2022 – Will eliminate non-sufficient funds fees
• Feb 2022 – Will remove ability for clients to overdraw their accounts at the ATM
• May 2022 – Will reduce overdraft fees from $35 to $10
• May 2022 – Will eliminate Balance Connect for overdraft protection transfer fee (formerly $12)

“We remain committed to taking actions that will further bring down overdraft fees in the future and continue to empower clients to drive positive changes to behavior pertaining to overdraft,” added O’Neill.
Essential Solutions
In addition to the changes to overdraft related fees, Bank of America’s suite of Essential Solutions offers a powerful combination of transparent, low and no cost, easy-to-use offerings that help clients budget, save, spend and borrow carefully and confidently. The full array of solutions includes:

• SafeBalance® – With SafeBalance, there are no overdraft fees, and the monthly maintenance fee is waived for eligible students under the age of 25 as well as for clients enrolled in our Preferred Rewards program.
• Balance Assist – Balance Assist provides an affordable way for clients to manage their short-term liquidity needs, borrowing only the amount they need, up to $500 (in increments of $100) for a $5 flat fee regardless of the amount borrowed. Repayments are made in three equal monthly installments over a 90-day period. To learn more, review these additional product details and eligibility criteria. Borrowers must have been a Bank of America checking account client for at least one year.
• Balance Connect – Balance Connect allows our clients overdraft protection through the ability to link up to five accounts to their checking, while increasing simplicity and accessibility through digital sign-up and management.
• BankAmericard® Secured Card – This credit card can help clients establish, strengthen or rebuild credit, and they can apply for an account with a security deposit starting as low as $300. With responsible credit behavior, over time, this could help clients improve their credit score.
• Affordable Home Loans – In early 2019, Bank of America launched its now expanded $15 billion Community Homeownership Commitment, which has already helped 32,000 low- and moderate-income homebuyers achieve homeownership through low down payment loans and down payment and closing cost grants. By 2025, Bank of America anticipates helping more than 60,000 individuals and families to purchase homes through the program.
• Keep the Change® – This tool helps clients build savings by automatically depositing spare change from rounded up debit card transactions into a savings account. Over the last 15 years, this program has helped clients direct more than $15 billion in excess change to client savings.
• Better Money Habits® – A free financial education platform that provides a simple, accessible way to connect people to the tools, resources and education they need to take control of their finances.

CONTINUED:
Bank of America Announces Sweeping Changes to Overdraft Services in 2022, Including Eliminating Non-Sufficient Funds Fees and Reducing Overdraft Fees

 

[lightbright]

‘This is a brilliant move’: Bank of America and Wells Fargo make big changes to overdraft fees — experts explain why
Last Updated: Jan. 13, 2022 at 10:38 a.m. ETFirst Published: Jan. 11, 2022 at 4:56 p.m. ET

It’s often called a “penalty for being poor” — and it’s being phased out.

Bank of America BAC, -1.48% said Tuesday morning it plans to end its $35 “non-sufficient funds” fees next month, and will drop overdraft fees to $10 from $35, starting in May. Non-sufficient fund fees occur when a payment bounces. Overdraft fees occur when consumers withdraw more than the agreed amount.

“Over the last decade, we have made significant changes to our overdraft services and solutions, reducing clients’ reliance on overdraft, and providing resources to help clients manage their deposit accounts and overall finances responsibly,” Holly O’Neill, Bank of America’s president of retail banking, said in a statement.

Wells Fargo got into the act Tuesday afternoon, announcing the end of non-sufficient fund fees by the end of the first quarter, as well as the end of transfer fees for accounts enrolled in overdraft protection. Starting around the third quarter, account holders will get a 24-hour grace period before overdraft fees kick in, the bank said.

“The enhancements we’re announcing today add to changes we’ve made previously and give our customers more choice and flexibility in meeting their needs,” Mary Mack, CEO of Wells Fargo consumer and small business banking, said in a statement.

Even before the Wells Fargo announcement, observers expected the Bank of America news to make waves.

‘This will ratchet the pressure up on other large national and regional banks to take similar steps.’
— Greg McBride, Bankrate.com chief financial analyst
“This is a brilliant move by CEO Brian Moynihan,” said Michael Moebs, economist and CEO of Moebs Services, an economic research firm. “Moynihan is putting Bank of America’s stake in the ground and telling all depositories and fintechs that BoA is going after their checking business, especially Wells Fargo, Chase and Chime.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has led the average American to store more money in their checking accounts, he said. In 2018, the average checking balance was $3,754. That fell to $3,698 at the end of 2019, according to data from Moebs Services. At the end of 2021, the average balance had risen to $8,244, Moebs said.

Another reason to cut these fees: customer loyalty. “Over a third of consumers (37%) who report overdrafting say they are thinking of starting a relationship with a new bank in the next six months, more than double the share of the general population that said the same,” according to a new poll by Morning Consult.

The announcement “is the latest, and most significant, move by the banking industry in an area that has been under intense scrutiny by regulators and lawmakers alike,” Greg McBride, Bankrate.com chief financial analyst. “This will ratchet the pressure up on other large national and regional banks to take similar steps.”

Amid this competition for checking accounts, Capitol One COF, -2.02% announced it was ending overdraft and non-sufficient funds fees on the same day that CFPB report came out last month. Before that, Ally Bank ALLY ended overdraft fees and PNC Bank PNC, -0.89% introduced offerings that will let customers avoid overdraft fees.

In December, JP Morgan Chase JPM, -4.68% said customers would not pay overdraft service fees when they were overdrawn by $50 or less at the end of the day. The bank previously had a $5 “cushion” before overdraft fees kicked in. It also stopped assessing a returned item fee if accounts lacked the money to cover the transaction.

Starting this year, customers will have one full business day to get their account back to a buffer of at least $50 overdrawn to avoid overdraft fees and funds from direct deposit payroll money will become available quicker up to two business days quicker to avert cashflow problems, Chase said.

Bank of America shares are up more than 48% in the past 12 months. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.67% is up nearly 17% in that time and the S&P 500 is up roughly 23% in that time.

CONTINUED:
'This is a brilliant move': Bank of America and Wells Fargo make big changes to overdraft fees — experts explain why - MarketWatch

 

[Dannyblueyes]

Are we supposed to give them a cookie for this?

If you don't want overdraft fees on your accounts Tell the bank not to allow it when you open one up. Then move all of your ACH payments over to a credit card that you pay off every single month.

BOA was trying to act like there "Safe Ballance" account was some exciting new product meant to help consumers. In other news McDonald's came out with a new product called "fries with salt."

So yes, this is still raping. The banks are hoping that they can still get away with it if they use a smaller tool.

 

[lightbright]

Are we supposed to give them a cookie for this?

If you don't want overdraft fees on your accounts Tell the bank not to allow it when you open one up. Then move all of your ACH payments over to a credit card that you pay off every single month.

BOA was trying to act like there "Safe Ballance" account was some exciting new product meant to help consumers. In other news McDonald's came out with a new product called "fries with salt."

So yes, this is still raping. The banks are hoping that they can still get away with it if they use a smaller tool.

And the sun now shines on their "charitable ways"....

Bank of America fined $150 million for consumer abuses including fake accounts, bogus fees​

KEY POINTS

• Bank of America engaged in deceptive practices that hurt hundreds of thousands of its customers in recent years, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Tuesday.
• The bank charged multiple $35 overdraft fees for the same transaction, failed to properly issue rewards to credit card users and signed up customers for card accounts without their consent, the CFPB said in a statement.
• The company has to pay $150 million in fines, as well as about $80.4 million to customers who were unfairly charged bogus fees, on top of the $23 million it already paid to customers who were improperly denied card awards.

Bank of America, the second-largest U.S. bank by assets, engaged in deceptive practices that hurt hundreds of thousands of its customers in recent years, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Tuesday.

The bank charged multiple $35 overdraft fees for the same transaction, failed to properly issue rewards to credit card users and signed up customers for card accounts without their consent, the CFPB said in a statement.
Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America was ordered to pay a total of $150 million in penalties to the CFPB and another regulator, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. It also has to pay about $80.4 million to customers who were unfairly charged bogus fees, on top of the $23 million it already paid to customers who were improperly denied card awards.

“These practices are illegal and undermine customer trust,” CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said in the release. “The CFPB will be putting an end to these practices across the banking system.”

Bank of America spokesman Bill Halldin said in a response the lender “voluntarily reduced overdraft fees and eliminated all non-sufficient fund fees in the first half of 2022,” resulting in a 90% drop in revenue from those fees.

The announcement Tuesday is the latest sign that some of the practices exposed by the Wells Fargo fake accounts scandal in 2016 weren’t confined to that bank.

Regulators have punished Wells Fargo for a sales culture that led to the creation of 3.5 million fake accounts. But other lenders have had similar lapses, including U.S. Bank, which paid a $37.5 million fine last year for putting customers into unauthorized accounts.


CONTINUED:

Bank of America fined $150 million for consumer abuses including fake accounts, bogus fees

The announcement is the latest sign that some of the practices exposed by the Wells Fargo fake accounts scandal in 2016 weren't confined to that bank.

www.cnbc.com

 

[Dannyblueyes]

And the sun now shines on their "charitable ways"....

Bank of America fined $150 million for consumer abuses including fake accounts, bogus fees​

KEY POINTS

• Bank of America engaged in deceptive practices that hurt hundreds of thousands of its customers in recent years, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Tuesday.
• The bank charged multiple $35 overdraft fees for the same transaction, failed to properly issue rewards to credit card users and signed up customers for card accounts without their consent, the CFPB said in a statement.
• The company has to pay $150 million in fines, as well as about $80.4 million to customers who were unfairly charged bogus fees, on top of the $23 million it already paid to customers who were improperly denied card awards.

Bank of America, the second-largest U.S. bank by assets, engaged in deceptive practices that hurt hundreds of thousands of its customers in recent years, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Tuesday.

The bank charged multiple $35 overdraft fees for the same transaction, failed to properly issue rewards to credit card users and signed up customers for card accounts without their consent, the CFPB said in a statement.
Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America was ordered to pay a total of $150 million in penalties to the CFPB and another regulator, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. It also has to pay about $80.4 million to customers who were unfairly charged bogus fees, on top of the $23 million it already paid to customers who were improperly denied card awards.

“These practices are illegal and undermine customer trust,” CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said in the release. “The CFPB will be putting an end to these practices across the banking system.”

Bank of America spokesman Bill Halldin said in a response the lender “voluntarily reduced overdraft fees and eliminated all non-sufficient fund fees in the first half of 2022,” resulting in a 90% drop in revenue from those fees.

The announcement Tuesday is the latest sign that some of the practices exposed by the Wells Fargo fake accounts scandal in 2016 weren’t confined to that bank.

Regulators have punished Wells Fargo for a sales culture that led to the creation of 3.5 million fake accounts. But other lenders have had similar lapses, including U.S. Bank, which paid a $37.5 million fine last year for putting customers into unauthorized accounts.


CONTINUED:

Bank of America fined $150 million for consumer abuses including fake accounts, bogus fees

The announcement is the latest sign that some of the practices exposed by the Wells Fargo fake accounts scandal in 2016 weren't confined to that bank.

www.cnbc.com

See, I knew Wells Fargo weren't the only bastards doing this.

 

[Curtwalk]

Some of that is Bullshit like that keep the change shit
Keep the change can put you in a negative balance that can add up if you use a debit card for everything.
They take 50 cents out everything you buy and you will have spent 40 to 50 bucks you didn’t know about.

 

[Dannyblueyes]

Some of that is Bullshit like that keep the change shit
Keep the change can put you in a negative balance that can add up if you use a debit card for everything.
They take 50 cents out everything you buy and you will have spent 40 to 50 bucks you didn’t know about.

The worst was when US Bank offered me two checking accounts. One for bills and the other for everything else so I could "organize my finances".

A few months later I got an overdraft fee over my cellphone bill even though I had nearly $2,000 in the other account.

Another time I had an automatic payment set up with megaupload for 10 Euros a month. I overdrafted got a $35 fee for the payment and another $35 fee for the currency conversion.

That's $70 extra on a bill that should have been around $15.

The last straw was when I was damn near homeless and my ex got me a Saturday gig DJing the grand opening of a downtown Brooks Brothers for $600. I purposely overdrafted my card to buy the gear I needed and got the store to pay me through a chargeback before the 4pm cutoff.

A week later I was -$600

When I called the bank they told me that the 4 pm cutoff only applied to weekdays. On Saturday it was 3 pm. I got the chargeback at 3:30. That half hour cost me over a grand.

I disputed and the response was some variation of "fuck you for not reading the fine print."

Since then I've watched these banksters like hawks. It blows my mind that the world's biggest most trusted banking system could be allowed to get away with this shit.

 

[blackbull1970]

Bank of America customers report outage, with some seeing $0 balances​

Bank of America customers report outage, with some seeing $0 balances

Bank of America customers are reporting problems accessing their online accounts, according to DownDetector.

www.cbsnews.com

 

[tallblacknyc]

Bank of America customers report outage, with some seeing $0 balances​

Bank of America customers report outage, with some seeing $0 balances

Bank of America customers are reporting problems accessing their online accounts, according to DownDetector.

www.cbsnews.com

Hey playahatian how many times have I say they do “test” on society who no longer use cash and trust this digital world.. one press of the button and they can wipe all your money out and one lil “glitch” and your cards won’t mysteriously work.. people brag about accepting a cashless society without thinking how easy the things you depend on in that system can easily “malfunction “ and now youre completely assed out… cash is king