Consumer complaint received 2017-04-03
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: CA
Product: Money transfers
Sub-product: Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Other transaction issues

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX I thought I had transferred {$1900.00} into my checking account from my XXXX Visa Debit card. I received a confirmation email that the transaction was completed but the account information only showed the last XXXX digits of my bank account number which were correct. I called BofA the following day to tell them the money was not deposited into my account even though they sent me a confirmation that it had. They assured me it had. Then they said transactions take up to 5 days. I waited, still nothing. The transaction was from a BofA XXXX debit card to my BofA checking. It should have been instant which is why I was concerned. After several days of waiting and still no deposit. I filed a claim. The investigation revealed that the money was deposited into someone else 's account. Nearly {$2000.00}! When they told me I figured they would see that it was an obvious mistake as people make mistakes and so do banks. In this case the bank said there is nothing they could do as I authorized the transfer when I entered the account number incorrectly online. I explained to them it was an obvious mistake as our account numbers were very similar. We had the exacted same account number except theirs had a XXXX and mine a XXXX. The last XXXX digits were the same which is why I did n't understand why the deposit had n't shown up when I received the confirmation. At that point I had not realized my error but BofA very well did and could have corrected right then and there and did not. I had to file a claim. Long story short the claim was denied because apparently entering an incorrect account number is an irreversible mistake. This is the part I do n't understand and want to see that this flawed system is changed so that myself any the millions of other consumers do n't fall victim to it like I did. Did I mention it was nearly {$2000.00}? The transfer required me to enter an account number no name or account number confirmation. That 's it one number wrong and your money is gone forever. No way to retrieve it because apparently I authorized it by hitting the enter button. I just want my money put into my bank account. Now they 're telling me I have to file a small claims against the person has my money because the bank is doing nothing to get it back. The system is very flawed and I will do my part to get it fixed. I hope I have the support of CFPB to make this happen because I ca n't be the only one this has happened to. How is it possible that a transaction can be made into an account without the requiring a recipient name or account # verification? They are treating this as a retail transaction but it does not show up on my statement as that. It shows up as a direct deposit transfer. The terms and conditions state that direct deposits can only be made into the card holders account. I explained this to the claims department and he said I know that statement is misleading. What?!!! If the account number was wrong and it did n't match my name the deposit should have been rejected. Period!

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 monetary relief