Nowadays, especially for you professionals recently out of college or trying to by house, having money in your checking account is a luxury few can afford.
Sometimes even paying of a credit card bill is a luxury few can afford. So having upwards of $10,000 sitting in a checking account is a stretch for most of us, right?
Tenille Sokolow posted TikTok asking the same question when she got a call from Bank of America informing her that she would be charged a maintenance fee for every month that her checking account was lower than $10,000.
She swears she could hear the employee laughing on the phone. Her outrage, which was echoed by many others, prompted @LilAnxiety1999 to share her own horror story with Bank of America, and the combo has people enraged.
She shares that she’s had an account with Bank of America since she was 17. They house her longest-standing credit card as well as multiple bank accounts. She’s never missed a payment or so much as an overdraft on any of her accounts. She’s 25-years-old and she works a regular, salaried position.
Unfortunately, she got scammed, but she was able to freeze and cancel all of her accounts before the scammer could get any money from her. Because she’d been such a solid and loyal customer, she didn’t think she’d have any trouble getting back into her Bank of America accounts, and at first, she didn’t.
But about a week after she got back into her account, she tried to log in only to find it locked again. Naturally, she called Bank of America and the customer service representative helped her change her username and password and get back into her account.
But this time, she could only see her credit card.
She’d heard horror stories about banking with Bank of America before so these were secondary accounts, but she still needed access to her checking and savings to pay her credit card bill. The customer service representative transferred her to an accounts representative.
Thsi account representative took down her name and her date of birth and told her that she was no longer eligible for a Bank of America checking or savings account. Essentially, they had decided she was no longer fit for these accounts, and had closed them on her behalf.
Naturally, she was very confused and upset and asked why they’d chosen to terminate her accounts. It turns out that’s something officials at Bank of America can just do, with no explanation necessary.
Now, without checking and savings, she’s also worried that they’re going to randomly cancel her longstanding credit card and ruin her credit. So she makes an appointment and goes to a Bank of America location in person, explaining her whole situation and her concerns. She asks them if she can get a written agreement stating that Bank of America won’t cancel her credit card without her permission. The employee tells her that she can’t speak on behalf of the company and when she asks for the manager he says the same thing.
They told her that when signed up she agreed that Bank of America could do whatever they wanted with her accounts. Then proceeded to advise that she open another credit card with another company and begin building credit elsewhere because they couldn’t give her any guarantee or reassurance.
Commenters are suggesting that she join a credit union instead, which is a not-for-profit organization that is a community-oriented way to keep money and take out loans, often eliminating fees and complicated agreements, according to My Credit Union.
Some chimed in with their own horror stories using Bank of America, pointing out that multiple lawsuits and legal troubles weren’t usually the mark of a good place to keep your money. Many had also had their accounts closed without their knowledge and one woman even said her husband had been banned from opening an account until 2135, despite never working with Bank of America.
Former employees even chimed in saying that even they would never bank there, echoing some of the same sentiments of the employees she talked to herself.
The general sentiment is “Credit Unions all the way” and it seems like people are even trying to start their own in the comments. @LilAnxiety1999 hasn’t updated on whether or not her credit card ever closed or how she got her money back, but she did make one thing very clear.
Her mantra going forward is, “Screw Bank of America.”