Comments on: Bank of America $75 Checking Account

By: BeKind

BeKind — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 18:05:14 +0000

…so then we tried to open account under primary cardholder, we still want the checking to link to credit card online. We were told we don’t qualify for bonus because I had just opened an account last week, there’s the six month, one per household stipulation. I never signed the signature card for the account opened last week and I closed it once I was told that I no longer qualify. They won’t consider that account null and void, and make up for the mistake made on their part.

By: BeKind

BeKind — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 21:16:21 +0000

I filled out the application, code pre-inputted. As I filled out application, chat box opened to speak with rep. I asked if you needed to be the primary cardholder because I am a secondary cardholder of a Bank of America credit card. The person said I qualified. I asked the person to verify, I was told yes again. I didn’t know it then but you can print the chat. Wish I had because after I opened the account I emailed to get it in writing. I got the run around twice. I called and I was told to wait and see in 90 days. I asked to speak to someone else and they said as a secondary cardholder, I do not qualify. I closed the account. I do not like being misled.

By: Chi

Chi — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 05:15:48 +0000

Me too. I just emailed them, and they are giving me the run-around and saying that if I didn’t input the code, they can’t give it to me. I know the code was there, cuz when I clicked on the link the code field was pre-inputted, but apparently I didn’t save the confirmation page, or else I can’t find it, so I might be out of luck there.

By: Steve

Steve — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 03:44:08 +0000

@ Brian: I’m in the same situation. Opened my account in July and it yet to be 90 days but was wondering should I try giving them a call anyway?

By: Brian

Brian — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 16:53:03 +0000

I opend this but have not recieved my 75 bucks yet…if anyone else opened one how long did it take??

By: Adam

Adam — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 01:22:25 +0000

Does anybody actually go to the websites that offer these deals and read all of the fine print or do you just lazily accept what is posted in the comment sections?? If I were going to take advantage of this, I would, without a doubt, read every line of every page for catches. There are no fees if you open MyAccess checking online. It says that blatantly in the advertisement at the beginning of this article. You have to be a BofA credit card holder to qualify. You are given the opportunity to take advantage of this offer in Online Banking, if you use it. You must make a $25 deposit within 30 days of account approval. You also must use the offer code when applying ONLINE. THATS IT. Found all of this out ON MY OWN in ten minutes on BofA website. Its easy money, but don’t get lazy trying to get it.

By: Andy

Andy — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 21:29:47 +0000

It is tempting indeed with $75 bonus. I read in previous comments and got puzzled. Is it required (a) a direct deposit each month to avoid a fee of $5 and (b) is a BofA credit card required ?

By: o

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 16:49:42 +0000

yeah dude, u have to have a boa credit card or did u miss that part?

By: Jonny

Jonny — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 02:28:28 +0000

Does it work only if you are a bank of america customer? I signed up but I’m wondering if I will get the bonus.

By: o

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 20:47:36 +0000

i’m with you larry

By: Larry

Larry — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 17:15:17 +0000

I forgot to mention above, that I’m seriously considering a small claims court-maybe a higher court if an attorney is interested- against BOA for their blatant failure to comply with OCC regulations, and the penaly imposed by their error, the loss of interest, and my time and stress.

By: Larry

Larry — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 17:09:01 +0000

If you already have a BOA credit card, please take advantage of this offer. I’m doing it again to recoup stings BOA has foisted upon me. I admit to the sin of not reading the fine print every month (you should due to the many changes banks are making to enhance their profits). I just discovered that BOA charges you interest on a balance pay off. You must have had a zero balance the previous month to avoid additional interest on a zero balance the next month. How do they justify this? I had a promo 2.99% rate that expired 6/30/2008. I paid it off and now find that they charged me $23.36 (at my normal rate) because I didn’t have a zero balance the previous month. This amounts to a pre-payment penalty!! And, to rub some salt in the wound they billed me an additional $1847 from my WAMU MMA in error. This error also caused a $10 charge from WAMU since it was the 7th transaction in the billing period at WAMU!! Online BOA would not correct this error. I kept getting phone replies that it was “under investigation”. I went to the local BOA branch yesterday and got it via a cash advance that they promise to refund the charges on. We’ll see. Office of the Comptroller rules state that a bank must correct mistakes in 10 business days except under extenuating circumstances in which they have 45 days to investigate things like fraud. BOA didn’t comply with the 10 day rule and in my case had no intention to do so since they failed to respond to several e-mails. Their one reply stated “we’re sorry for the inconvenience”-nothing said about resolving the mistake. So, I encourage everyone to take advantage of this offer to pay BOA back for ripping customers off.

By: Sue

Sue — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 06:38:52 +0000

Thanks for the tip. That was easy. Took about 10 minutes. I used my BOA credit card to fund it. 10 minutes for $75 isn’t bad.

By: tom

tom — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 03:17:31 +0000

what’s a firstchoice account?

By: R. Carr

R. Carr — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 07:33:32 +0000

Seems like a nice promo … sucks I already have a firstchoice gold account (that I don’t want to cancel). Any loopholes I can find my way into?

By: deb

deb — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 19:40:34 +0000

Let me tell you something… their customer service is among the worst I’ve encountered! I opened a no fee $75 bonus checking account with a minimum $100 deposit on line in early May, and the CSRs I spoke to on the phone STEADFASTLY REFUSED to credit the bonus, no matter what I said. Finally, I went to the local branch, and spoke to the manager, who agreed I had fulfilled all of the requirements for getting the bonus (they tried to say I was a previous B of A checking customer years ago, and the bonus only applied to “first accounts,” which it clearly did not say in the ad), and I should be getting it soon. So caveat emptor when it comes to B of A — make sure you save EVERY SCRAP OF PAPER AND PRINT OUT EVERY SCREEN AND ALL REQUIREMENTS AND OTHER DETAILS IF YOU APPLY ONLINE. And good luck!

By: tom

tom — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 07:37:37 +0000

lol. i just went into a branch today to close out my account so i could do this offer. there was only one other customer in the bank and i had to wait about 10 minutes just to talk to someone, then it still took forever to close. the dude kept on trying to give me reasons why i shouldn’t close the account, saying, and i quote, “you can’t close the account” because i need a local bank to make quicker deposits than with etrade. i felt like i was at a timeshare promotion.

By: Larry

Larry — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:03:24 +0000

I closed out BOA’s previous bonus with an ACH transfer that left a zero balance and they’re now asking me to pay a $3.00 fee (I had assumed they were going to deduct the $3.00 from the transfer. I told them to forget about it.
Now, they’re paying me back. I paid off their credit card with a 4K balance and they took another $1,847. from my MMA savings and haven’t refunded it for over a week! They just sent me an e-mail saying “they are very sorry when their customers get frustrated and they understand” but didn’t mention anything about repaying the $1847!! Guess they’re holding it for ransom until I pay the $3.00. I’ll never forget the sorry brick/mortar BOA bank account I closed out 10 years ago-they took an hour to close it while remarking “we can’t believe you want to close your account with us.” They’re driven WASPS like me away-that’s why they’re pursuing the illegal alien market now. I will take another $75.00 from them, however, since their stupid management has run them so far down they’re desperate.

By: tom

tom — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 14:37:39 +0000

craig-
that’s a really good idea. i was thinking of doing the same with my E*trade account, but was afraid about fees. i will definitely try that now.

By: Craig

Craig — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 13:46:11 +0000

Hi Tom,

Good point. They might if initiated through BoA; I hooked up the account to another bank that has pulls from external accounts for free (E*Trade).