Bank Of America Steals Money For Their Own Gain O'Fallon Illinois

I DID MY RESEARCH. EVERYTHING THAT I READ IN THE FINANCIAL PUBLICATIONS ABOUT THESE PEOPLE IS SUMMED UP IN THE WIKIPEDIA ONLINE WHICH IS CONSIDERED FREE USE AND NOT COPYRIGHTED.

THOSE OF US WHO WERE RAISED IN NEW ORLEANS WILL UNDERSTAND WHY I WOULD NOT WANT TO DO BUSINESS WITH THEM IN THE FIRST PLACE.


See also: Banc of America Securities
Bank of America Corporation
Type Public
(NYSE: BAC)
(TYO: 8648)
Founded Bank of Italy (1904)
NationsBank (1874)
Headquarters Charlotte, NC, United States
Area served Worldwide
Key people Kenneth D. Lewis
(Chairman, President and CEO)
Joe L. Price, CFO
Industry Banking
Financial services
Investment services
Products Finance and insurance
Consumer Banking
Corporate Banking
Investment Banking
Investment Management
Global Wealth Management
Private Equity
Mortgage
Credit Cards
Revenue ? US$124.32 billion (Jan '07)[1]
Net income ? US$14.98 billion (Dec '07)[2]
Total assets ? US$2.88 trillion (Sep '08)[3]
Total equity ? US$146.803 billion[1]
Employees 171,587 (February 2009)
Website Bankofamerica.com

Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC), based in Charlotte, North Carolina, is the largest financial services company in the world, largest bank by assets, second largest commercial bank by deposits, and (previously) third largest by market capitalization in the United States. Also, Bank of America is the number one underwriter of global high yield debt, the third largest underwriter of global equity and the ninth largest adviser on global mergers and acquisitions.

Bank of America serves clients in more than 150 countries and has a relationship with 99 percent of the U.S. Fortune 500 companies and 83 percent of the Fortune Global 500. The company is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and a member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

The Bank, once considered one of the winners and healthiest survivors of the 2007 credit crisis, plunged in market value after its purchase of Merrill Lynch.


Bank of Italy

The Bank of Italy was founded in San Francisco by Amadeo Giannini in 1904, based on catering to immigrants. Amadeo was raised by the Fava/Stanghellini family when his father was shot while trying to collect on a $10.00 debt. When the 1906 San Francisco earthquake struck, Giannini was able to get all of the deposits out of the bank building and away from the fires.

In 1922, Giannini established Bank of America and Italy in Italy by buying Banca dell'Italia Meridionale, itself only established in 1918.

In the late 1920s, Giannini approached Orra E. Monnette, President and founder of Bank of America, Los Angeles, about a merger between the two entities. The Los Angeles based bank had exhibited strong growth throughout the 1920s, due in part to its success in developing an advanced branch banking system. The merger was completed in early 1929 and took the name Bank of America. The combined company was headed by Giannini with Monnette serving as co-Chair.

Growth in California

Giannini sought to build a national bank, expanding into most of the western states as well as into the insurance industry, under the aegis of his holding company, Transamerica Corporation. The passage of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, prohibited banks from owning non-banking subsidiaries such as insurance companies. Bank of America and Transamerica were separated, with the latter company continuing in the insurance business. However, federal banking regulators prohibited Bank of America's interstate banking activity, and Bank of America's domestic banks outside California were forced into a separate company that eventually became First Interstate Bancorp, which was acquired by Wells Fargo and Company in 1996. It was not until the 1980s with a change in federal banking legislation and regulation that Bank of America was again able to expand its domestic consumer banking activity outside California.

These technologies also allowed credit cards to be linked directly to individual bank accounts. In 1958, the bank introduced the BankAmericard, which changed its name to VISA in 1975.[9] A consortium of other California banks came up with Master Charge (now MasterCard) in order to compete with BankAmericard.

Expansion outside of California
Bank of America Corporate Center, located in the center of uptown Charlotte, North Carolina.

Following the passage of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1967, BankAmerica Corporation was established for the purpose of owning Bank of America and its subsidiaries.

BankAmerica expanded outside California in 1983 with its acquisition of Seafirst Corporation of Seattle, Washington, and its wholly owned banking subsidiary, Seattle-First National Bank. Seafirst was at risk of seizure by the federal government after becoming insolvent due to a series of bad loans to the oil industry. BankAmerica continued to operate its new subsidiary as Seafirst rather than Bank of America until the 1998 merger with NationsBank.

BankAmerica was dealt huge losses in 1986 and 1987 by the placement of a series of bad loans in the Third World, particularly in Latin America. The company fired its CEO, Sam Armacost. Though Armacost blamed the problems on his predecessor, A.W. (Tom) Clausen, Clausen was appointed to replace Armacost. The losses resulted in a huge decline of BankAmerica stock, making it vulnerable to a hostile takeover. First Interstate Bancorp of Los Angeles (which had originated from banks once owned by BankAmerica), launched such a bid in the fall of 1986, although BankAmerica rebuffed it, mostly by selling operations. It sold its FinanceAmerica subsidiary to Chrysler and the brokerage firm Charles Schwab and Co. back to Mr. Schwab. It also sold Bank of America and Italy to Deutsche Bank. By the time of the 1987 stock market crash, BankAmerica's share price had fallen to $8, but by 1992 it had rebounded mightily to become one of the biggest gainers of that half-decade.

BankAmerica's next big acquisition came in 1992. The company acquired its California rival, Security Pacific Corporation and its subsidiary Security Pacific National Bank in California and other banks in Arizona, Idaho, Oregon and Washington (which Security Pacific had acquired in a series of acquisitions in the late 1980s). This was, at the time, the largest bank acquisition in history. Federal regulators, however, forced the sale of Security Pacific's Washington subsidiary, Rainier Bank, as the combination of Seafirst and Rainier would have given BankAmerica too large a share of the market in that state. The Rainier Bank branches were divided and sold off to West One Bancorp (now U.S. Bancorp) and KeyBank.Later that year, BankAmerica expanded into Nevada by acquiring Valley Bank of Nevada.

In 1994, BankAmerica acquired the Continental Illinois National Bank and Trust Co. of Chicago, which had become federally owned as part of the same oil industry debacle emanating from Oklahoma City's Penn Square Bank, that had brought down numerous financial institutions including Seafirst. At the time, no bank had the resources to bail out Continental, so the federal government operated the bank for nearly a decade. Illinois at that time regulated branch banking extremely heavily, so Bank of America Illinois was a single-unit bank until the 21st century. BankAmerica moved its national lending department to Chicago in an effort to establish a financial beachhead in the region.

These mergers helped BankAmerica Corporation to once again become the largest U.S. bank holding company in terms of deposits, but the company fell to second place in 1997 behind fast-growing NationsBank Corporation, and to third in 1998 behind North Carolina's First Union Corp. In 1998, BankAmerica was purchased by North Carolina-based NationsBank, and changed the headquarters to Charlotte, North Carolina.

Merger of NationsBank and BankAmerica

In 1997, BankAmerica lent D. E. Shaw & Co., a large hedge fund, $1.4bn so that the hedge fund would run various businesses for the bank. However, D.E. Shaw suffered significant loss after the 1998 Russia bond default. BankAmerica was acquired by NationsBank later that year in October.

The purchase of BankAmerica Corp. by the NationsBank Corporation was the largest bank acquisition in history at that time. While the deal was technically a purchase of BankAmerica Corporation by NationsBank, the deal was structured as merger with NationsBank renamed to Bank of America Corporation, and Bank of America NT&SA, changing its name to Bank of America, N.A. as the remaining legal bank entity. The bank still operates under Federal Charter 13044 which was granted to Giannini's Bank of Italy on March 1, 1927. However, SEC filings before 1998 are listed under NationsBank, not BankAmerica.

Following the US$64.8 billion acquisition of BankAmerica by NationsBank, the resulting Bank of America had combined assets of US$570 billion, as well as 4,800 branches in 22 states. Despite the mammoth size of the two companies, federal regulators insisted only upon the divestiture of 13 branches in New Mexico, in towns that would be left with only a single bank following the combination. This is because branch divestitures are only required if the combined company will have a larger than 25 percent FDIC deposit market share in a particular state or 10 percent deposit market share overall.
History since 2001

In 2001, Bank of America CEO and chairman Hugh McColl stepped down and named Ken Lewis as his successor. Lewis's greater focus on financial discipline and efficiency contrasted greatly with the expansionary mergers and acquisition strategy of his predecessor.

Acquisition of FleetBoston Financial

In 2004, Bank of America announced it would purchase Boston-based bank FleetBoston Financial for $47 billion in cash and stock.By merging with Bank of America, all of its banks and branches were given the Bank of America logo. At the time of merger, FleetBoston was the seventh largest bank in United States with $197 billion in assets, over 20 million customers and revenue of $12 billion.

Purchase of MBNA

On 30 June 2005, Bank of America announced it would purchase credit card giant MBNA for $35 billion in cash and stock. The Federal Reserve Board gave final approval to the merger on 15 December 2005, and the merger closed on 1 January 2006. The acquisition of MBNA provided Bank of America a leading credit card issuer at home and abroad. The combined Bank of America Card Services organization, including the former MBNAhad more than 40 million U.S. accounts and nearly $140 billion in outstanding balances.

Divestiture of operations in Brazil, Chile and Uruguay

In May 2006, Bank of America and Banco Ita (Investimentos Ita S.A.) entered into an acquisition agreement through which Ita agreed to acquire BankBoston's operations in Brazil and was granted an exclusive right to purchase Bank of America's operations in Chile and Uruguay. A deal was signed in August 2006 under which Ita agreed to purchase Bank of America's operations in Chile and Uruguay. Prior to the transaction, BankBoston's Brazilian operations included asset management, private banking, a credit card portfolio, and small, middle-market, and large corporate segments. It had 66 branches and 203,000 clients in Brazil. BankBoston in Chile had 44 branches and 58,000 clients and in Uruguay it had 15 branches. In addition, there was a credit card company, OCA, in Uruguay, which had 23 branches. BankBoston N.A. in Uruguay, together with OCA, jointly served 372,000 clients. While the BankBoston name and trademarks were not part of the transaction, as part of the sale agreement, they cannot be used by Bank of America in Brazil, Chile or Uruguay following the transactions. Hence, the BankBoston name has disappeared from Brazil, Chile and Uruguay. The Ita stock received by Bank of America in the transactions has allowed Bank of America's stake in Ita to reach 11.51%. Banco Boston do Brazil had been founded in 1947.

Purchase of US Trust

On 20 November 2006, Bank of America announced the purchase of The United States Trust Company for $3.3 billion, from the Charles Schwab Corporation. US Trust had about $100 billion of Assets Under Management and over 150 years of experience. The deal closed 1 July 2007.

Acquisition of ABN AMRO North America and LaSalle Bank

On September 14, 2007, Bank of America won approval from the Federal Reserve to acquire ABN AMRO N.A. and LaSalle Bank Corporation from Netherlands's ABN AMRO for $21 billion. With this combination Bank of America will have 1.7 trillion in assets. A Dutch court blocked the sale until it was later approved in July. The acquisition was completed on October 1, 2007.

The deal increased Bank of America's presence in Illinois, Michigan, and Indiana by 411 branches, 17,000 commercial bank clients, 1.4 million retail customers and 1,500 ATMs. Bank of America has become the largest bank in the Chicago market with 197 offices and 14% of the deposit share, passing up JPMorgan Chase.

LaSalle Bank and LaSalle Bank Midwest branches adopted the Bank of America name on 5 May 2008.

Acquisition of Countrywide Financial

On August 23, 2007 the company announced a $2 billion repurchase agreement for Countrywide Financial. This purchase of preferred stock was arranged to provide a return on investment of 7.25% per annum and provided the option to purchase common stock at a price of $18 per share.

Following that initial investment, on January 11, 2008, Bank of America announced that they would buy Countrywide Financial for $4.1 billion.This acquisition, which closed on July 1, 2008, gave the bank a substantial market share of the mortgage business, and access to Countrywide's expertise, technology, and employees for servicing mortgages.The acquisition was seen as preventing the potential of bankruptcy for Countrywide. Countrywide, however, denied that it was close to bankruptcy. Countrywide provides mortgage servicing for nine million mortgages valued at $1.4 trillion USD as of December 31, 2007. However, Countrywide is under FBI investigation due to possible fraud in home loans and mortgages, therefore Bank of America states that by 2009 they will only be "officially" affiliated to Countrywide.

On July 1, 2008, Bank of America Corporation completed its purchase of Countrywide Financial Corporation. This purchase made it the USA's leading mortgage originator and servicer, controlling between 20 to 25 percent of the home loan market.[19] The deal was structured to merge Countrywide with the Red Oak Merger Corporation, which Bank of America created as an independent subsidiary. It has been suggested that the deal was structured this way to prevent a potential bankruptcy stemming from large losses in Countrywide hurting the parent organization by keeping Countrywide bankruptcy remote.

Acquisition of Merrill Lynch

On September 15, 2008, Bank of America announced its intentions to purchase Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. in an all-stock deal worth approximately $ 50 billion, about 86% of the Bank of America stock price at close. This acquisition will make Bank of America the largest financial services company in the world. Temasek Holdings, the largest shareholder of Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., will become one of the largest shareholders of Bank of America.

Shareholders of both companies approved the acquisition on December 5, 2008, and the deal closed January 1, 2009.

The Bank, in its January 16, 2009 earnings release, revealed massive losses at Merrill Lynch in the fourth quarter, which necessitated an emergency government bailout of the Bank to keep it solvent. Merrill recorded an operating loss of $21.5 billion in the quarter, mainly in its sales and trading operations, led by Tom Montag. The Bank also disclosed it tried to abandon the deal in December after the extent of Merrill's trading losses surfaced, but was compelled to complete the merger by the U.S. government. The Bank's stock price sank to $7.18, its lowest level in 17 years, after announcing earnings and the Merrill mishap. The market capitalization of Bank of America, including Merrill Lynch, was then $45 billion, less than the $50 billion it offered for Merrill just four months earlier, and down $108 billion from the merger announcement.

Federal bailout

Bank of America received US $20 billion in federal bailout from the US government through the TARP program on 16 January 2009 and also got guarantee of US $118 billion in potential losses at the company.This was in addition to the $25 billion given to them in the Fall of 2008 through TARP. The additional payment was part of a deal with the US government to preserve Bank of America's merger with the troubled investment firm Merrill Lynch. Since then, members of the US Congress have expressed considerable concern about how this money has been spent, especially since some of the recipients have been accused of mis-using the bailout money.The Bank's CEO, Ken Lewis, was quoted as claiming "We are still lending, and we are lending far more because of the TARP program." Members of the US House of Representatives, however, were skeptical and quoted many anecdotes about loan applicants (particularly small business owners) being denied loans and credit card holders facing stiffer terms on the debt in their card accounts.

According to a March 15, 2009 article in The New York Times, Bank of America received an additional $5.2 billion in government bailout money which was channeled through American International Group.

Bank of America divisions
Bank of America ATM
Typical Bank of America local office
Bank of America branch in Lowell, MA

Bank of America generates 90% of its revenues in its domestic market and continues to buy businesses in the US. The core of Bank of America's strategy is to be the number one bank in its domestic market. It has achieved this through key acquisitions.

Consumer

Global Consumer and Small Business Banking (GC&SBB) is the largest division in the company, and deals primarily with consumer banking and credit card issuance. The acquisition of FleetBoston and MBNA significantly expanded its size and range of services, resulting in about 51% of the company's total revenue in 2005. It competes directly with the retail banking divisions of Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase. The GC&SBB organization includes over 6,100 retail branches and over 18,700 ATMs across the United States.

Bank of America is a member of the Global ATM Alliance, a joint venture of several major international banks that allows customers of the banks to use their ATM card or check card at another bank within the Global ATM Alliance with no fees when traveling internationally. Other participating banks are Barclays (United Kingdom), BNP Paribas (France), China Construction Bank (China), Deutsche Bank (Germany), Santander Serfin (Mexico), Scotiabank (Canada) and Westpac (Australia and New Zealand). This feature is restricted to withdrawals using a debit card, though credit card withdrawals are still subject to cash advance fees and foreign currency conversion fees. Additionally, some foreign ATMs use Smart Card technology and may not accept non-Smart Cards.

Bank of America, N.A is a nationally chartered bank, regulated by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Department of the Treasury.

Corporate

Global Corporate and Investment Banking (GCIB), also known as Banc of America Securities LLC, provides mergers and acquisitions advisory, underwriting, capital markets, as well as sales & trading in fixed income and equities markets. Its strongest groups include Leveraged Finance, Syndicated Loans, and mortgage-backed securities. It also has one of the largest research teams on Wall Street. Banc of America Securities LLC is based in New York City, with major offices also located in Charlotte, Chicago, San Francisco, Tokyo, Frankfurt, London, and Mumbai. Ken Lewis, the ambitious chief executive who masterminded the bank's expansion into exotic new businesses including GCIB, bluntly ruled out any further acquisitions in its investment banking division. "I've had all of the fun I can stand in investment banking at the moment," he told analysts.

Investment management

Global Wealth and Investment Management manages assets of institutions and individuals. It is among the 10 largest U.S. wealth managers (ranked by private banking assets under management in accounts of $1 million or more as of June 30, 2005). In July 2006, Chairman Ken Lewis announced that GWIM's total assets under management exceeded $500 billion. GWIM has five primary lines of business: Premier Banking & Investments (including Bank of America Investment Services, Inc.), The Private Bank, Family Wealth Advisors, Columbia Management Group, and Banc of America Specialist.

Bank of America has recently spent $675 million building its US investment banking business and is looking to become one of the top five investment banks worldwide. "Bank of America already has excellent relationships with the corporate and financial institutions world. Its clients include 98% of the Fortune 500 companies in the US and 79% of the Global Fortune 500. These relationships, as well as a balance sheet that most banks would kill for, are the foundations for a lofty ambition."

Bank of America is currently constructing a massive new headquarters for its New York City operations. The skyscaper will be located on 42nd Street and Avenue of the Americas, at Bryant Park, and will feature state of the art, environmentally-friendly technology throughout its 1.2 million square feet (111,484 m) of office space. The building will be the headquarters for the company's investment banking division, and will also host most of Bank of America's New York-based staff.

International operations

In 2005, Bank of America acquired a 9% stake in China Construction Bank, China's second largest bank, for $3 billion. It represented the company's largest foray into China's growing banking sector. Bank of America currently has offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Guangzhou and is looking to greatly expand its Chinese business as a result of this deal. In 2008 Bank of America was awarded Deal of the Year - Project Finance Deal of the Year at the 2008 ALB Hong Kong Law Awards.

Bank of America has invested in India as an emerging market. Currently, Bank of America maintains branches in Mumbai, Chennai, Calcutta, New Delhi and Bangalore. For the fiscal year ending March 31, 2006 Bank of America reported an 80% increase in net profit.

Bank of America operated under the name BankBoston in many other Latin American countries, including Brazil. In 2006, Bank of America sold all BankBoston's operations to Brazilian bank Banco Ita, in exchange for Ita shares. The BankBoston name and trademarks were not part of the transaction and, as part of the sale agreement, cannot be used by Bank of America. (That meant the extinction of the BankBoston brand.)

Bank of America's Global Corporate and Investment Banking spans the Globe with divisions in United States, Europe and Asia. The U.S. headquarters are located in New York, European headquarters are based in London and Asia's headquarters are split between Singapore & Hong Kong.

Board of Directors

* William Barnet III, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, The Barnet Company
* Frank P. Bramble Sr, Former Executive Officer, MBNA Corporation
* John T. Collins, Chief Executive Officer, The Collins Group
* Gary L. Countryman, Chairman Emeritus, Liberty Mutual Group
* Tommy Franks, Retired General, United States Army
* Charles K. Gifford, Former Chairman, Bank of America Corporation
* Kenneth D. Lewis, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Bank of America Corporation
* Monica C. Lozano, Publisher and Chief Executive Officer of La Opinion
* Walter E. Massey, President Emeritus, Morehouse College
* Thomas J. May, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, NSTAR
* Patricia E. Mitchell, President and Chief Executive Officer, The Paley Center for Media
* Thomas M. Ryan, President and Chief Executive Officer, CVS Caremark Corporation
* O. Temple Sloan, Jr., Chairman, General Parts International
* Meredith R. Spangler, Trustee and Board Member
* Robert L. Tillman, Chairman and CEO Emeritus, Lowe's
* Jackie M. Ward, Retired Chairman/CEO, Computer Generation

Major Shareholders
Individuals Shares held
Kenneth D Lewis 1,780,531
John A Thain 679,946
Bruce L Hammonds 504,429
Keith T Banks 336,371
Charles K Gifford 334,176
Institutions Shares held % held
Barclays Global Investors 192,077,414 3.83
State Street Corp 187,394,299 3.73
FMR 152,596,052 3.04
Vanguard Group 142,204,635 2.83
Capital World Investors 114,829,550 2.29
Wellington Management Comp 102,053,133 2.03
AXA 89,824,923 1.79
Bank of New York Mellon Corp 65,284,687 1.30
Morgan Stanley 58,081,288 1.16
JP Morgan Chase & Co 54,816,605 1.09

* data from Yahoo! Finance as of January 1, 2009

Social responsibility

In addition to its new eco-friendly office tower in Manhattan, Bank of America has pledged to spend billions on commercial lending and investment banking for projects that it considers "green." The corporation, which already supplied all of its employees with cash incentives to buy hybrid vehicles, is also helping its customers be eco-friendly by rolling out a new credit card program in 2007 that would donate money to helping the environment, as well as providing mortgage loan breaks for customers whose homes qualified as energy efficient.

Bank of America has also donated money to help health centers in Massachusettsand made donations to help homeless shelters in Miami.

In 2004 the bank pledged $750 billion over a ten-year period for community development lending and investment. The company had delivered more than $230 billion against a ten-year commitment of $350 billion made in 1998 to provide affordable mortgage, build affordable housing, support small business and create jobs in disadvantaged neighborhoods.

Diversity and inclusion
Bank of America in Washington, D.C.

Bank of America was named for the 19th year as one of the "100 Best Companies for Working Mothers" in 2007 by Working Mother magazine. In 2006 Bank of America was one of the first companies inducted into Working Mother magazine's Hall of Fame.

In 2007, DiversityInc ranked Bank of America as the number one company for diversity in this prestigious list and placed as a top employer for executive women, Hispanics, Asian Americans and for GLBT executives, as well as number one for recruitment and retention, and number six for supplier diversity.

IT Senior Management Forum (ITSMF) recognized Bank of America as the "2007 Organization of the Year." This award is presented annually for leadership in the areas of developing and embracing a diverse workforce.

National Black MBA Association awarded Bank of America the "2006 Company of the Year" for recruiting, retaining and providing advancement opportunities for blacks in the workplace. It also recognized Bank of America's Managing Director, Deputy Head of Global Investment Banking Lewis Warren, Jr. as one of the "75 Most Powerful Blacks on Wall Street."

Bank of America was named the number one company for Hispanics by Hispanics Business Magazine in 2006. Latina Style continues to rank Bank of America in their Top 15 for its "50 Best Companies for Latinas" which measures companies based on recruitment, retention and advancement opportunities for Latinas.

Human Rights Campaign 2006 Corporate Equality Index gave Bank of America a 100% rating for its support of gay, l*****n, bisexual and transgender associates.

Controversies

As is the case with many large corporations, some of Bank of America's corporate policies have been controversial. Some policies, such as their overdraft fee policy, and their acceptance of the Matricula Consular as an acceptable form of identification for account opening are widespread in the financial industry. Other controversies have been more specific to Bank of America, such as its involvement in the bankruptcy of the Italian food and dairy conglomerate Parmalat or its receipt of funds from the Troubled Asset Relief Program. These controversies generate a great deal of media attention from critics on all points of the political spectrum.

Here is a link to the website for the Comptroller of the Currency Administrator of national Banks. http://www.occ.treas.gov/customer.htm they have a link for online consumer complaints against banks, I you make a complaint explaining in detail your issue, as I did. The bank will contact you in about a month with good news, I didn't even have to explain enything to the Bank of America Representative who contacted me( who happend to be the secretary of BankofA CFO) by the time she finshed talking credit for the issue was already available in my account.


Hope this helps, the process takes about a month but not bad for one contact.

I hope this helps since no one has offered to explain the rules to you.

If you swipe your card at a merchant, say for $50, your account is held $50. If the merchant does not process your charge within 3 days, the hold comes off your account. However, the merchant can submit the charge anytime after that and the bank may still pay it. So, it looks like the merchant submitted the charge after the hold came off the bank. It is basically up to you to make sure the bank has accounted for all your charges. If you see a charge hasn't posted and is no longer being held, you still need to account for it.

The 3 day rule is how long they guarantee to the merchant that the money is held. If the merchant submits the charge after the 3 days, the bank no longer guarantees that the money is held, but they can still post the charge to your account.

I once had a merchant that must have lost my charge because they submitted it to the bank 1 month after I actually made the charge. I knew it was outstanding so I was accounting for it.

I also had a merchant that never submitted a charge. It's been 1.5 years now. Of course the bank took the hold off my money, but I still account for it creeping up (even though it may be too late for the merchant). This is why the bank takes holds off, even though it hasn't hard posted.

Doesn't matter what everyone here may say, you did make a mistake. However, banks like BOA, Wells, etc. they all take advantage of fees. Basically you left yourself open to these charges and B of A ran with it. Its an automatic process.

The way debits are processed online is misleading. They could easily show 'pending' charges on their website, but they leave them off. So is it shady, yup. Unfortuanately there is nothing you can do about it.

The reason is, commerical banks look at overdrafts as INCOME. It does not cost the bank $39, or whatever their outrageous fees are.

Recognize it for what it is. Use an account ledger. Just don't trust the system.

Or just be like me, and use cash!!! I actually keep my online spending seperated from my bank. I have a prepaid card I use for it. Its impossible to overdraft a prepaid card, it basically puts a wall between my spending and my bank. Sometimes I get down to the bottom of the barrel, and its easy to spend money in a pinch if you see you have it available. Its a bit of an inconvienence to have to deposit money on the card, but it also prevents headaches. Because of this I have not had a single overdraft in a few years. But there was a time that I got reamed somewhere in the neighborhood of $500 or so in overdraft fees for less than $100 worth of spending. My bank only serves 3 functions to me, thats to deposit checks, make cash withdrawls, and pay bills. No other spending is tied into it at all.

Just recognize it for what it is, you can't change it, it sucks and it is profit driven. If everyone protected themselves better then bank of america and others would be out a good bit of profit that they didn't deserve in the first place.

For the OP and Robyn, your issue stems not from the failure of the bank to do anything, but for your own inability to handle your finances. The OP stating that at 19, he states, "most teenagers don't really keep track of how much they spend" is an excellent example of why he's in the mess he's in; the OP wants someone else to keep track of his expenses for him. My friend, the bank is not in the business of tracking your account, but if you fail to keep track of how much you spend, chances are - you will be paying the bank for something you could yourself for free. Robyn, your failure stems from the fact that you don't keep track of your expenses either; when you make a deposit of $1,100 and you write a check for $700, please tell me how it's the bank's fault for not cashing the $700 check when it was the person who you wrote the check to that failed to deposit your check? If you write a check for $700, you don't have $1,100 in your account anymore; you only have $400 and if you spend more than $400 since you wrote that check, chances are you will overdraft.

It's really sad each time I read something like this because it reveals the absolute ignorance of those who lost thousands of dollars to banks in a month because of something as simple as keeping a check register. For that kind of money, you could hire an accountant to track your expenses and it would be cheaper. Either way, you're going to pay unless you take responsibility now and use a check register today.

Online statements are accurate as they will show you the current balance available from the deposits or debits that have been posted to the account.

The online statements cannot give an accurate balance if you were to have outstanding payments that have not been submitted to the bank yet. That is why a check register is needed.

I Know this sounds simplified but if my only statement shows I have 200.00 in my account right now (9:45 PM Thursday) and I go out write a check for 200.00 tonight my account will most likely show that I will still have a 200.00 balance until possibly Monday when the check finally gets to my bank. That is not becuase the bank was purposely holding my check it is because it would not be sent to the bank from the store when they make their daily deposits. Then being the weekend it would not be processed until Monday.

I will say that for debit card payments technology is getting better and in some cases the payments will show up in the account right away.

The biggest problem is that people rely on technology way too much. A check register, or just keeping a running account on a sheet of paper is still the best way to make sure you know what is in your account to avoid NSF fees.

When it comes to NSF fees, and the bank paying the check and then charging a fee. If the wouldn't pay the check the store could charge an NSF fee and I don't know how much that would be but I would think it would be about what the bank would charge. and then of course the bank would charge you for the returned check as well. So by the bank paying the check it would be cheaper for the customer. I suppose another consideration would be that the customer would have less embarassment since their next deposit will hopefully take care of the NSF check and fee and they would not have to go to the store and make arrangements to cover the check.

You would see that he had problems with overdrafts, etc. The point of my post was to offer an option that is cheaper and will save him some money. And, the fact is, that it is much cheaper to conduct your finances with a credit union as opposed to a bank, especially if you have difficulties with keeping a positive balance. We all know that ALL the banks are screwing people over left and right on their credit card accounts. They are raising interest rates and lowering credit limits on their good customers in order to compensate for their "not so good" customers. Why do you think the banks will not resort to tactics on other bank accounts that will increase their profitability? I have read many of these reports, many of these folks have valid complaints. For example, when banks "hold" mail that results in a payment being late even when it arrives on time--tell me that is not a tactic to make a profit for the bank. Holding funds that are deposited, and in many instances, these reports indicate that the deposits were made in CASH and then held several days, another tactic to cause the consumer problems with their account. And what about the fact that banks continually allow consumers to use their debit cards even when their accounts go negative, is this not another issue that banks allow to happen, then blame the consumer, even though the account should have been denied at that point. Then banks have the audacity to take it on themselves, and pay overdrafts, then turn around and charge the consumer for the service. What the banks basically do is make a loan to the consumer, even though the consumer did not agree to entering into a loan agreement for this purpose. Why can't they just do the right thing and return the item? All these things banks do may be legal in the eyes of the law, but it is also very marginal. And just because something is legal, does not make it ethical, or right. My point is clear: credit unions are owned and operated by those who invest in it. They work for the consumer, because the consumer has a voice in how things operate, they are members, not just customers. And the credit unions are not taking huge sums from the Feds. The more I learn about how banks, all banks, operate, I find it repulsive. As I said, I have never used a check register. The idea that a check register can solve all these problems is simply not true. It may help, but I am able to keep a good ruunning track of my funds in my head, and I have managed very well this way. People who make honest mistakes need to pay fees for that service. I am not saying that bank fees are necessarily bad, but banks need to take some responsibility for how they conduct their business, as well. If the banks would make some minor changes that are more pro-consumer, many of these problems would dissapear.

I am having the same identical issues with bank of America in Virginia Beach, Va. I will not go into great detail, however, I have been suspicious of them bouncing checks purposefully for years now on my account.

I went through their drive thru and made a deposit, got my account balance which was around 1100.00, then the next day wrote a 700.00 check and the check did not clear for a good week and a half later, at which time it bounced. It makes no sense at all. With all of the computer calculated information everything should be incredibly fast and up to date. Their transactions take longer than they did before computers existed in business. This has to be purposefully done , as their is no way to blame this on computers. There is definitely something going on with that Bank. Someone should investigate.

Robyn, Virginia Beach, Va

I am having the same identical issues with bank of America in Virginia Beach, Va. I will not go into great detail, however, I have been suspicious of them bouncing checks purposefully for years now on my account.

I went through their drive thru and made a deposit, got my account balance which was around 1100.00, then the next day wrote a 700.00 check and the check did not clear for a good week and a half later, at which time it bounced. It makes no sense at all. With all of the computer calculated information everything should be incredibly fast and up to date. Their transactions take longer than they did before computers existed in business. This has to be purposefully done , as their is no way to blame this on computers. There is definitely something going on with that Bank. Someone should investigate.

Robyn, Virginia Beach, Va

I am having the same identical issues with bank of America in Virginia Beach, Va. I will not go into great detail, however, I have been suspicious of them bouncing checks purposefully for years now on my account.

I went through their drive thru and made a deposit, got my account balance which was around 1100.00, then the next day wrote a 700.00 check and the check did not clear for a good week and a half later, at which time it bounced. It makes no sense at all. With all of the computer calculated information everything should be incredibly fast and up to date. Their transactions take longer than they did before computers existed in business. This has to be purposefully done , as their is no way to blame this on computers. There is definitely something going on with that Bank. Someone should investigate.

Robyn, Virginia Beach, Va

I am having the same identical issues with bank of America in Virginia Beach, Va. I will not go into great detail, however, I have been suspicious of them bouncing checks purposefully for years now on my account.

I went through their drive thru and made a deposit, got my account balance which was around 1100.00, then the next day wrote a 700.00 check and the check did not clear for a good week and a half later, at which time it bounced. It makes no sense at all. With all of the computer calculated information everything should be incredibly fast and up to date. Their transactions take longer than they did before computers existed in business. This has to be purposefully done , as their is no way to blame this on computers. There is definitely something going on with that Bank. Someone should investigate.

Robyn, Virginia Beach, Va

The grass always looks greener.....

"..I have never had a problem with overdrafts, or being stuck with other fees. Having said that, let me add that I DO NOT use a check register, and have done very well without it.."
- Then you are either very lucky, don't use a debit card, or unlike a majority of people actually have a buffer in your account so you don't even get near a 0 balance.

"...They charge half on fees that the banks charge..."
- If you never had a problem with fees why does it matter what they charge?

"They do not hold deposits, even if it is from a personal account. And they post debits in the order in which they are received..."
- Do you have all of that in writing? Even if it is the case if you never have overdrafted why does it matter how they post?

"..Even though I do not overdraft checks, it is nice to know that if you do, they will only charge you $20 instead of B of A's $39..."
- So after 17 years of no overdrafts you all of the sudden think you may overdraft?

"...I know that there are some deadbeats out there, but alot of these complaints on this board are from honest, hard-working Americans who only want a fair shake, and not be nickle-and-dimed to death..."
- No a lot of these complaints are from people who spend more time trying to figure out how to blame the "evil" banks, rather than taking personal responsibility in managing their account. They want a bank to do for free what other people pay an accountant several thousand dollars a year to do.

Do you people who so defend these banks actually think most of these people with complaints go out looking to have their hard-earned money taken from them?
- Actually by your comments you are saying that $20 rather than $39 is fair for an overdraft fee. Isn't $20 someone's hard earned money also? There is a way to pay $0 in overdraft fees..Don't overdraft your account. You figured it out..and this works at every bank and CU.

Banks are out to make money. "..We all know that, but they need to make it in a fair way.."
- So it's fair when people don't take responsibility for their finances and spend money that is not theirs? Again what makes a $20 overdraft fee fair compared to a $39 overdraft fee?

In short if you want to go to a CU there is nothing wrong with them, just like a bank or any other business investigate them and see if they meet your needs. But I have been with a couple of Credit Unions over the years. While some things may be better, don't expect the experience to be much different OVERALL than a regular bank.

I have had an account with bank of America since 1992. I have never had a problem with overdrafts, or being stuck with other fees. Having said that, let me add that I DO NOT use a check register, and have done very well without it. But after having read many of these reports on here about Bank of America, and other "banks", let me tell you that you are better off to ditch them all. I am in the process of closing out my B of A account, mostly because of the reports that I have read on Rip Off Report. I am opening an account with a credit union, which is much better. Before I opened it, I asked all the right questions. They charge half on fees that the banks charge. They do not hold deposits, even if it is from a personal account. And they post debits in the order in which they are received. They are very helpful, as I have had to call them several times to ask questions about different things, and they answer your questions until you completely understand the answer. Even though I do not overdraft checks, it is nice to know that if you do, they will only charge you $20 instead of B of A's $39. And they will not charge you if you have only one overdraft a month. All their other fees are about half of what B of A's fee are. And their loans are offered at excellent interest rates. When you join a credit union, you become more than a customer, you are a member, and have a stake in the credit union's success. If everyone would join a credit union, and the banks loose a significant amount of business, maybe they would think twice about how they do business. Those of you who are alwatys taking the bank's side against the consumer in these reports, saying that the banks are legally right in their practices, well, that may be, but it doesn't make alot of what these banks do MORALLY right. I know that there are some deadbeats out there, but alot of these complaints on this board are from honest, hard-working Americans who only want a fair shake, and not be nickle-and-dimed to death. Do you people who so defend these banks actually think most of these people with complaints go out looking to have their hard-earned money taken from them? Banks are out to make money. We all know that, but they need to make it in a fair way, and these banks engage in many practices which are designed to "trick" customers into making mistakes. So, those of you who have had it with these banks, go check out a local credit union. I think you will find that you are treated better, and that their practices are much more consumer friendly.

Ken, I have to agree. The amount of time that some people will spend posting on complaint sites and doing whatever they can to avoid responsibility for their own actions could be far better spentpracticing some basic account management.

I've had my shop for 15 years. What I notice are two kinds of people. Those who pay attention to what they spend and those who don't. Some pay by cash, very few, some pay by check, a few more, more pay by debit card and the rest pay by credit card. There are those who pay by check or debit card, about the same thing, who ON THE SPOT, enter their purchase into some type of check register and then deduct their puchase from their "running balance". I GUARANTEE those people DON'T pay overdrafts. They watch their balance like a hawk. They can tell you to the penny how much money is in their account and probably in their purse or wallet. These online balances don't tell you jack. Jumping to another bank isn't gonna help the OP, it'll be the SOS.

I am constantly amazed at the efforts people will go through to avoid the small effort of managing your account like an adult.

I am constantly amazed at the efforts people will go through to avoid the small effort of managing your account like an adult.

I am constantly amazed at the efforts people will go through to avoid the small effort of managing your account like an adult.

In response to Norvman...

"Any good Accountant will tell you...
Proper Record Keeping can never occur without Proper numbers to start with...
any one good at making money will also tell you ..'timing' is the the key...."

Exactly. Online banking does not offer good numbers and as we see here, relying upon that feature leads to overdraft charges.

"BoA never shows you the Proper Numbers... nor the Proper 'times'...."

That's what your ledger is for. As the account holder, it is your responsibility to manage it.

"Bank of America is running a Scam...

plane and simple...Even a 19 year old can see that...."

Not in this case. A 19 year old was poorly managing his account and the fees caught up to him.

"Plus... why use online Bill pay... if you have to use a check book to keep up with it?"

Because online banking isn't and cannot be an accurate tool for managing your account. The convenience of paying bills online doesn't absolve one of the responsibility of managing their finances.

"But... lets make it as hard as we can on the customer....they are stupid anyway...
Well will treat them stupid and they will be stupid..."

In this case the account holder paid the bank unneccessary fees by his own (in)actions.

"Boy... Isn't Bank of America Smart?

You know there are other Banks... Edgeman ... give them a try... Most have Online Bill Pay that accutally works..."

I have accounts at Bank of America, US Bank and a credit union. The bill pay service at any one of them works just as well as the others. And they all require proper record keeping.

In response to Norvman...

"Any good Accountant will tell you...
Proper Record Keeping can never occur without Proper numbers to start with...
any one good at making money will also tell you ..'timing' is the the key...."

Exactly. Online banking does not offer good numbers and as we see here, relying upon that feature leads to overdraft charges.

"BoA never shows you the Proper Numbers... nor the Proper 'times'...."

That's what your ledger is for. As the account holder, it is your responsibility to manage it.

"Bank of America is running a Scam...

plane and simple...Even a 19 year old can see that...."

Not in this case. A 19 year old was poorly managing his account and the fees caught up to him.

"Plus... why use online Bill pay... if you have to use a check book to keep up with it?"

Because online banking isn't and cannot be an accurate tool for managing your account. The convenience of paying bills online doesn't absolve one of the responsibility of managing their finances.

"But... lets make it as hard as we can on the customer....they are stupid anyway...
Well will treat them stupid and they will be stupid..."

In this case the account holder paid the bank unneccessary fees by his own (in)actions.

"Boy... Isn't Bank of America Smart?

You know there are other Banks... Edgeman ... give them a try... Most have Online Bill Pay that accutally works..."

I have accounts at Bank of America, US Bank and a credit union. The bill pay service at any one of them works just as well as the others. And they all require proper record keeping.

In response to Norvman...

"Any good Accountant will tell you...
Proper Record Keeping can never occur without Proper numbers to start with...
any one good at making money will also tell you ..'timing' is the the key...."

Exactly. Online banking does not offer good numbers and as we see here, relying upon that feature leads to overdraft charges.

"BoA never shows you the Proper Numbers... nor the Proper 'times'...."

That's what your ledger is for. As the account holder, it is your responsibility to manage it.

"Bank of America is running a Scam...

plane and simple...Even a 19 year old can see that...."

Not in this case. A 19 year old was poorly managing his account and the fees caught up to him.

"Plus... why use online Bill pay... if you have to use a check book to keep up with it?"

Because online banking isn't and cannot be an accurate tool for managing your account. The convenience of paying bills online doesn't absolve one of the responsibility of managing their finances.

"But... lets make it as hard as we can on the customer....they are stupid anyway...
Well will treat them stupid and they will be stupid..."

In this case the account holder paid the bank unneccessary fees by his own (in)actions.

"Boy... Isn't Bank of America Smart?

You know there are other Banks... Edgeman ... give them a try... Most have Online Bill Pay that accutally works..."

I have accounts at Bank of America, US Bank and a credit union. The bill pay service at any one of them works just as well as the others. And they all require proper record keeping.

Any good Accountant will tell you...
Proper Record Keeping can never occur without Proper numbers to start with...
any one good at making money will also tell you ... 'timing' is the the key...

BoA never shows you the Proper Numbers... nor the Proper 'times'....

Bank of America is running a Scam...

plane and simple...

Even a 19 year old can see that....

Plus... why use online Bill pay... if you have to use a check book to keep up with it?

But... lets make it as hard as we can on the customer....
they are stupid anyway...
Well will treat them stupid and they will be stupid...

Boy... Isn't Bank of America Smart?

You know there are other Banks... Edgeman ... give them a try... Most have Online Bill Pay that accutally works...

I learned how to write checks and keep an accurate register in the 7th GRADE!

Not to mention that I was also taught correct checkbook register keeping from my parents before that.

YOU HAVE TO KEEP A REGISTER -Only YOU know for sure what was spent - and the only ACCURATE way to do so is to rely on YOURSELF and your check register and not the bank to do it for you.

YOUR FAULT - NO ONE ELSES.

ALERT!!!!!!!!!! URGENT!!!!!!!!!! MUST READ!!!!!!!!!!!! EXTREMELY IMPORTANT!!!!!!!!!!

Go to www.9news.com and type in- NEW WARRANT SERVED IN CONNECTION TO PROSTITUTION RING, and read the March 20th 2008 story about this IMMEDIATELY!

Microsoft Corporation was served a SEARCH WARRANT regarding this PROSTITUTION RING!

Maybe some of us VOTED for these politicians who HAVEN'T BEEN NAMED YET, huh?

SPREAD THIS ALL OVER THE WORLDWIDE WEB!

ALERT ALL COUNTRIES, INCLUDING SAUDI ARABIA IMMEDIATELY!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you.

"This has been happening for years and it seems I am the latest victim. Last week (on the 2nd of March, of the year 2009), my account was suspiciously overdrawn according to BoA email and their Website. The weekend prior, I had decided to buy a xbox 360, and went on the website to make sure I had enough money to do so. The site said I had a total of 274 dollars, which should have included all the items that were waiting to be processed in their system.

However, this sadly wasn't the case. There were 3 items, in my honest opinion, left out on purpose. They hadn't been processed for over a week, and for some reason never was accounted for when the system told me I had 274 dollars remaining. They weren't even on the web page when I looked at it. Even on the day prior to the overdraft, they weren't even there, leaving me to believe they had been taken care of."

What did your ledger say? Online and phone banking features are inaccurate by their very natures. However, a properly filled out check register is accurate. What did your register tell you? I'm betting that it would have shown that you didn't have enough money for that Xbox (if you bothered to keep one).

This is a case of poor financial management on your part.

I assume that you are opening an account with a new bank? You may as well know that all major banks operate more or less the same way and this incident will repeat itself so long as you rely upon phone and onlne banking features for your account balance.

"This has been happening for years and it seems I am the latest victim. Last week (on the 2nd of March, of the year 2009), my account was suspiciously overdrawn according to BoA email and their Website. The weekend prior, I had decided to buy a xbox 360, and went on the website to make sure I had enough money to do so. The site said I had a total of 274 dollars, which should have included all the items that were waiting to be processed in their system.

However, this sadly wasn't the case. There were 3 items, in my honest opinion, left out on purpose. They hadn't been processed for over a week, and for some reason never was accounted for when the system told me I had 274 dollars remaining. They weren't even on the web page when I looked at it. Even on the day prior to the overdraft, they weren't even there, leaving me to believe they had been taken care of."

What did your ledger say? Online and phone banking features are inaccurate by their very natures. However, a properly filled out check register is accurate. What did your register tell you? I'm betting that it would have shown that you didn't have enough money for that Xbox (if you bothered to keep one).

This is a case of poor financial management on your part.

I assume that you are opening an account with a new bank? You may as well know that all major banks operate more or less the same way and this incident will repeat itself so long as you rely upon phone and onlne banking features for your account balance.

"This has been happening for years and it seems I am the latest victim. Last week (on the 2nd of March, of the year 2009), my account was suspiciously overdrawn according to BoA email and their Website. The weekend prior, I had decided to buy a xbox 360, and went on the website to make sure I had enough money to do so. The site said I had a total of 274 dollars, which should have included all the items that were waiting to be processed in their system.

However, this sadly wasn't the case. There were 3 items, in my honest opinion, left out on purpose. They hadn't been processed for over a week, and for some reason never was accounted for when the system told me I had 274 dollars remaining. They weren't even on the web page when I looked at it. Even on the day prior to the overdraft, they weren't even there, leaving me to believe they had been taken care of."

What did your ledger say? Online and phone banking features are inaccurate by their very natures. However, a properly filled out check register is accurate. What did your register tell you? I'm betting that it would have shown that you didn't have enough money for that Xbox (if you bothered to keep one).

This is a case of poor financial management on your part.

I assume that you are opening an account with a new bank? You may as well know that all major banks operate more or less the same way and this incident will repeat itself so long as you rely upon phone and onlne banking features for your account balance.

"This has been happening for years and it seems I am the latest victim. Last week (on the 2nd of March, of the year 2009), my account was suspiciously overdrawn according to BoA email and their Website. The weekend prior, I had decided to buy a xbox 360, and went on the website to make sure I had enough money to do so. The site said I had a total of 274 dollars, which should have included all the items that were waiting to be processed in their system.

However, this sadly wasn't the case. There were 3 items, in my honest opinion, left out on purpose. They hadn't been processed for over a week, and for some reason never was accounted for when the system told me I had 274 dollars remaining. They weren't even on the web page when I looked at it. Even on the day prior to the overdraft, they weren't even there, leaving me to believe they had been taken care of."

What did your ledger say? Online and phone banking features are inaccurate by their very natures. However, a properly filled out check register is accurate. What did your register tell you? I'm betting that it would have shown that you didn't have enough money for that Xbox (if you bothered to keep one).

This is a case of poor financial management on your part.

I assume that you are opening an account with a new bank? You may as well know that all major banks operate more or less the same way and this incident will repeat itself so long as you rely upon phone and onlne banking features for your account balance.