Consumer complaint received 2017-07-11
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Problem caused by your funds being low — Non-sufficient funds and associated fees
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION (FL)

My problem combines two policies from Bank of America-their overdraft policy and their " monthly maintenance fee '' policy.
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I have a checking account with Bank of America and have had this same account open with them for about 8 years now, since I was a XXXX in high school. The amount of money this bank has taken from me has been grossly unethical yet still legal due to their self-serving and shady policies. I woke up today with a text alert notifying me that my account had been assessed an overdraft fee for {$35.00} because I did not bring my account to positive quickly enough. I have it set up so that I receive daily text notifications sent to my phone in order for me to keep updated with my balance and hopefully avoid overdraft items.
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Yesterday ( XXXX ) apparently my account had gone negative due to a recurring payment I have taken out with XXXX. However I was not aware the entire day because XXXX XXXX XXXX EST-I received a text message alert from Bank of America with my balance, reflecting a low balance yet still a positive amount. I went my entire day unaware that later on sometime that day, my account had gone into negative standing.
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It was an error on my part to not remember exactly what date I have these recurring automatic payments set up, however even so, I believe that it is irresponsible and dishonest on Bank of America 's part for : 1 ) creating their overdraft policy so that if/when a customer 's account balance does go negative, that customer only has the time from which they realized their account balance was negative until XXXX XXXX  that same day. They are adamant and rigid with dates when it comes to certain aspects to these policies but less consistent when it comes to other aspects ( i.e., the dates Bank of America assesses/applies their account fees vary and it is apparently justified by their mentioning of pay period cycles ).
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2 ) Handling customers ' bank accounts in such a way that processsing of fees are re-ordered and delayed, thus reflecting an inaccurate account balance to their customers ( this has happened to me countless times ) leading them to spend more than they actually have. This is called " high to low processing '' and it is a highly unethical yet perfectly legal trend practiced by banks.
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Now in regards to how their policy on their " monthly maintenance fee '' has affected me for some time now. This monthly fee is {$12.00} and was not applicable to me until recently because of my age. Their policy on their " monthly maintenance fee '' contains loopholes, that as a result unfairly made me start paying these fees once I hit a certain age and/or was no longer a XXXX. I was told that I was of a certain age and that is why the monthly maintenance fees started, however I was still a XXXX.
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I looked back a few months into my account history and noticed that Bank of America routinely has withdrawn this monthly maintenance fee on the XXXX of each month. Yet, this latest fee was deducted from my account on XXXX and not the XXXX like months prior. I brought this up to Bank of America to see if this could maybe waive my overdraft fee, but instead I received a justification as to WHY this last monthly maintenance was withdrawn all a different date and that is because " the pay period cycle varies each month due to months having different numbers of days. '' This is just another way they can use wording and irrelevant distractions to continue to justify their unethical practices. When it comes to withdrawing monthly maintenance fees, Bank of America does not consistently withdraw it on the same date yet their policy regarding overdraft fees allows no room for variation in dates and mandates that a customers ' account must be brought to positive standing before midnight that same day or else they will be charged the {$35.00} fee.
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These are clearly dishonest and manipulated practices led by Bank of America that have resulted in me paying this institution money that I should not have paid.