Consumer complaint received 2015-08-07
Product: Bank account or service — Checking account
Issue: Problems caused by my funds being low — 
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION (NH)

Bank of America applies unfair and inconsistent polices to applying overdraft fees. 

During day/business hours, if a checking account goes into overdraft and you have alerts configured, Bank of America sends timely alerts where you are given the opportunity to rectify the matter. However, it 's been my consistent experience that if the overdraft action occurs late at night, even within short proximity XXXX XXXX their technical " next business day '' ), no timely alerts are generated and the transactions are applied with overdraft fees. In my case, the alert itself was not received until XXXX EST the following XXXX ; confirmed in the SMTP headers of the message. 

I contacted Bank of America via phone and explained the above scenario and how I felt this consisted of an unfair business practice and requested a refund of the fees, to which they refused. Afterward, I visited my local Bank of America XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, NH and spoke with two representatives. The last, presumably being in a managerial capacity. I explained the above scenario again and got her to admit that their application of overdraft fees is inconsistent -- she acknowledged they " could '' charge an overdraft fee during the day, but elect not to. 

This is not an isolated incident ; I 've encountered this unfair practice before, including the alerts inconsistency. As it happens, I work XXXX and I 'm up very late at night, into the morning hours. Had the alert been sent in a timely manner, as it is during the day, I would have acted and rectified the matter immediately. 

Furthermore, their " alerts '' service does not specify any terms of service about which times of the day it may or may not work. In my discussion at the Bank this afternoon, I pointed out this blatant inconsistency ; her response was to say she would note my concerns in their system, but ca n't guarantee they will do anything to remedy the issue. 

Bank of America does not provide the consumer with actual timestamps of incoming transactions to prove that they were not preferentially sorted, to facilitate levying of fees, nor did the representative indicate this information was available when requested. I pointed out that absence of that information was also inherently unfair to the consumer. Therefore, I further accuse Bank of America of preferentially sorting transactions favorably toward the institution, in order to levy fees. 

I believe Bank of America deliberately employs these unfair practices to deliberately take advantage of people, like myself, who have financial limitations. Such unfair practices results in further hardships for the people who can least afford it. It also serves to keep them in debt. It causes substantial grief, especially for those that are struggling to make ends meet, who may not be able to afford legal assistance or may not understand their legal rights to object mistreatment like this. 

Presently, their overdraft fee is XXXX per transaction. There is no regulation in the banking industry of what constitutes a reasonable overdraft " fee '', such as a percentage. Even if the incoming charge is XXXX that causes an overdraft action, they still charge the consumer XXXX. If you have overdraft protection, Bank of America will charge XXXX per transaction. In the old days, overdraft protection was free ; you used your own credit or funds to supplement it. Further, if you open an account that rejects incoming transactions if the available balance is not sufficient, Bank of America will still charge you XXXX per transaction. 

All of the above, in its entirety is extremely unfair and abusive to consumers. These practices should be stopped, both with legislation and further regulation of the banking industry. 

In my case, at the very least, I want Bank of America to refund the overdraft fees, along with a written apology.