Consumer complaint received 2021-06-22
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: CA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Problem using a debit or ATM card

Complaint:
I had two unauthorized transactions from my Bank of America on XX/XX/2021 ; they were comprised of two ATM withdrawals totaling {$980.00}. I contacted Bank of America within hours of receiving a notification of the transactions to report them as unauthorized. I informed the representative that I had not conducted the transactions and was actually on vacation out of the area, which is also supported by the rest of the activity from my account during this time. Additionally, the transactions were conducted through a temporary card that I had destroyed upon receiving my actual replacement card on XX/XX/2021, nearly a month before the transactions were conducted. {$980.00} was provisionally credited to my account. 

On XX/XX/2021 I received notice that my claim was denied because Bank of America had determined that " The charge was authorized by you or someone who has permission to used the card or account ''. This is not true and I communicated this to Bank of America multiple times. They have yet to provide any documentation to me showing how they made this determination. 

I submitted a complaint to their customer service team to have my case re-evaluated and received a second denial notice on XX/XX/XXXX, stating the same reason for denial. Again, I received no documentation to support their decision. 

Please find my concerns below ( this was also sent to Bank of America via fax to XXXX on XX/XX/2021 ). 

1. I regularly monitor my accounts and receive notifications regarding any transactions in excess of {$1.00}. I was alerted to the two ATM withdrawals totaling {$980.00} and contacted Bank of America almost immediately ( within hours ) to notify you that I did not conduct the transactions. I answered all questions asked by the service representative and received no further contact for additional information. It is absolutely unacceptable that my claim was denied because Bank of America failed to collect the information needed to properly file my claim. 

2. Based on the claim denial that I received I am being held liable for the full amount of the transactions. Based on my understanding of section 1005.6 ( b ) I can not be held liable for more than {$50.00} as I provided timely notice, did not act negligently with my card, and did not authorize the transactions. Additionally, my card was not lost, I had destroyed it as instructed by a representative from Bank of America. I am, however, keen to understand why Bank of America did not disable the temporary card that was issued to me once I received and activated my replacement card. 

3. In order to deny my claim, you must produce evidence that no error occurred. I believe this would be very difficult for Bank of America to do given that these transactions were undeniably fraudulent. The transactions were conducted at a Bank of America ATM and you should have access to the camera footage that would clearly show I did not conduct these withdrawals. I did not provide access to my account to any other individual which I also disclosed to Bank of America when I submitted my claim. I would like to request all supporting documentation used in your investigation immediately. 

Thank you for time in reviewing my complaint.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation