Consumer complaint received 2025-07-01 00:00:00
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Managing an account — Funds not handled or disbursed as instructed
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: CA

Complaint narrative:
Formal Complaint - False Low Balance Alert Due to Misleading Hold Display To Whom It May Concern, At XXXX a.m., I received a " low balance '' alert for my business checking account ( ending in XXXX ), claiming my available balance dropped below {$100.00}. That alert was completely inaccurate and caused serious stress- all because of how your system handles deposit holds. 
Here are the actual facis : - I had approximately {$1600.00} available in the account. 
- I deposited {$2000.00} in cash on the morning of XX/XX/XXXX - fully cleared and available. 
- I had also deposited a {$3000.00} check via mobile on XX/XX/XXXX- which was placed on hold until XX/XX/XXXX. 
- Later on XX/XX/XXXX, we deposited an {$18000.00} check, which was also placed on hold. 
What's outrageous is how your system mishandles the display of these deposits : - The {$3000.00} mobile check appears as a " deposit hold '' - clear and understandable. 
- But the {$18000.00} check is shown as a " pending debit '' for - {$18000.00}, making it appear that I spent or transferred funds I never touched. 
Even worse : the {$18000.00} check was written from another Bank of America account. There was no outside bank involved. This means you had full internal access to confirm those funds in real time. I understood the check might be held, and i didn't spend it or assume it was cleared. What I didn't expect - and what is unacceptable- is that Bank of America would label it like an outgoing transaction, reduce my available balance accordingly, and then wake me up at XXXX a.m. with a false low balance alert. 
If a check is being held, it should be labeled as a hold - not a pending debit. This misclassification is not only misleading, it actively causes confusion for account holders and undermines the reliability of your alert system. 
Your alert system appears to treat held deposits as if they are outgoing debits, deducting them from available balance and triggering false low balance alerts- even though the funds were never available and certainly not spent. 
This is a deeply flawed and misleading system. For business owners, this kind of inaccurate alert - especially in the middle of the night- is unacceptable. 
I need clear answers to the following : XXXX. Why is an incoming check deposit - from another Bank of America account - being labeled as a " pending debit ''? 
XXXX. Why does your alert system treat held deposits as reducing available balance? 
XXXX. What are you doing to fix this, or at the very least, allow customers to opt out of alerts triggered by deposit holds? 
I did everything right. I didn't overspend or overdraft. I was responsible. And yet your system falsely flagged my account as low because it doesn't understand the difference between money coming in and money going out - even from within your own institution. 
Fix it. 
Sincerely, XXXX XXXX

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