Complaint Review: Bank Of America

This posting is to let the world know about the shenanigans being practiced by the greedy upper management at Bank of America who appear to have some great schemes for generating interest on customer's money by means of their practice of putting excessive holds on checks that are deposited with Bank of America.

On November 7, 2008, I deposited a check for $10,000 drawn on an account at J. P. Morgan Chase. By November 10, 2008, that deposit showed up in the online banking statement available to me at www.bankamerica.com. I understood that a hold had been placed on the deposit -- a prudent step that I agree is good business practice.

Two days after the deposit showed on my Bank America online statement, the same $10,000 check was presented to Chase for payment and the $10,000 was shown as deducted from my Chase account. In other words, by November 12, 2008, the Bank of America had used electronic notification to obtain the $10,000 from Chase.

Today, November 18, 2008, -- 6 days later -- the Bank of America still has a hold of $4,900 on my account that is said to expire today and a further hold of $5,000 that will expire on November 20, 2008.

Bank of America is trying to tell me that what is happenings is required by the Federal Reserve Bank System. I maintain that is an example of abuse of the "float" system and that some greedy upper management at Bank America is getting big bonuses based on their being so smart as to hold $4,900 from November 12, 2008, to November 18, 2008, and $5,000 from November 12, 2008 to November 20, 2008, in order to earn interest that they can use for some slush fund such as huge year end bonuses.

Why is it that Bank America is permitted to legally delay for 6 or 8 days the lifting of a hold on a deposit when the deposit cleared immediately at the other bank.

I have an explanation. To get the money from the other bank, the Bank America used electronic transfer, but to get the word back that the money has cleared the other bank, the Bank of America is using old fashioned "pony express" because by so doing they can play with my deposit for 6 to 8 days.

I was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, on March 6, 1925, when Charlotte was a quirt little Southern City. I grew up there through first grade in 1932. Today I am ashamed to say I was born in Charlotte because Charlotte is the home of the Bank of America and its greedy upper management.

Nelson
Petaluma, California
U.S.A.