Consumer complaint received 2018-05-01
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: FL
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Fees or interest
Sub-issue: Unexpected increase in interest rate

Complaint:
As a Bank of America customer and a taxpayer, I am extremely distressed by the bank 's new policy regarding firearms and accessories. Their actions to cut off financing and other services to legitimate, completely legal companies ( in this case firearms manufacturers producing popular and mainstream merchandise ) for political purposes sets a fantastically dangerous precedent and should be curtailed immediately. Indeed, their actions run in direct contravention to the Second Amendment of the Bill of Rights, as though Bank of America is a private company and therefore has certain rights itself, we the taxpaying people of the United States bailed out this company, and others, with hundreds of billions of dollars public money. For Bank of America and other financial companies to then turn around and not only discriminate against the very same law-abiding citizens of this country that bailed them out but to strike at the heart of our founding document and system of government at the same time is simply appaling. 
To add to this, there is now talk of financial institutions tracking purchases of firearms and accessories down to the customer level. For what legitimate purpose could such tracking be for, I ask? I can think of none, and truly can only see the motive as the restriction or complete denial of legal purchases paid for with one 's own money. This too is extremely dangerous, as the same logic and action could be applied to any transaction, by mistake or malice : Shop at a sporting goods store, and buy a tent, but the transaction is logged as a " firearms retailer '' - to have the transaction disallowed or your interest rate raised because you shopped at a " high risk '' store? Legally and legitimately exercise your Second Amendment rights and buy a gun - and your bank denies your next loan application as you are a " high risk '' customer? Perhaps the political winds change and another product or service is disfavored by the bank - what happens then? Shop at the wrong store, and your financial future is in jeopardy? Donate to the wrong charity and the same occurs? Go to the wrong church? Buy the wrong book? Donate to the wrong political party? What happens next?

I believe that banks and other financial institutions should behave in a manner consistent with their fiduciary responsibility to their stockholders and other ownership interests, and not attempt to alienate large swaths of the country and customers based on political whim. That goes especially for such companies that were bailed out by the American taxpayer to survive their own poor business decisions. It really is a terrible joke for Bank of America to behave in such an anti-American manner. No bank or business is too big to fail - revoke their charter or break them up. I and those I know will discontinue business with Bank of America or any bank that shows such blatant disrespect for the principles that underpin our nation.

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