Consumer complaint received 2026-04-30 00:00:00
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Problem with a lender or other company charging your account — Transaction was not authorized
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: PA

Complaint narrative:
I am filing this complaint against Bank of America regarding its failure to protect my checking account after XXXX XXXX XXXX processed multiple duplicate withdrawals from my account. I have been a Bank of America customer for approximately 15 years or more. I also have a long-standing relationship with XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX back to XXXX. My normal authorized payment to XXXX XXXX XXXX is {$170.00}. On Friday, XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX withdrew XXXX separate payments of {$170.00} from my Bank of America account. These five withdrawals totaled {$890.00}. Only one {$170.00} payment was authorized. The remaining four duplicate withdrawals, totaling {$710.00}, were unauthorized duplicate withdrawals. This was not a normal transaction pattern. It was five identical withdrawals from the same merchant on the same day. Bank of America allowed these charges to process without sending me an alert, blocking the transactions, contacting me, or requiring verification. This is especially disturbing because just one day earlier, on XX/XX/XXXX, Bank of America declined a small gas station purchase and sent me a text message to verify whether the transaction was mine. I was required to respond before the purchase would be authorized. Bank of America took steps to question a normal gas station transaction, yet allowed XXXX duplicate {$170.00} payments from the same company to drain nearly {$900.00} from my account without any meaningful fraud protection or customer alert. I discovered the issue on XX/XX/XXXX. I attempted to contact XXXX XXXX XXXX, but they were closed because they only operate Monday through Friday during business hours. I then contacted Bank of America and spoke with XXXX. I was told that I should contact XXXX XXXX XXXX, even though XXXX was unavailable over the weekend. That response was unacceptable because the money had already been taken from XXXX Bank of America account and I needed my bank to help protect me. On XX/XX/XXXX, I contacted XXXX XXXX XXXX and spoke with a supervisor named XXXX, employee XXXX. She informed me that XXXX XXXX XXXX had been dealing with a new system issue and that this was the third consecutive week customers had been accidentally over-drafted. That means this was not a one-time isolated issue. It was connected to an ongoing billing system problem. Also on XX/XX/XXXX, I called Bank of America again and spoke with XXXX, employee # XXXX. I was told the payments were still pending and that nothing could be done until the transactions finished processing. I asked to speak with a supervisor and was transferred to XXXX, employee ID # XXXX. She gave me the same basic response : there was nothing Bank of America could do while the transactions were pending, and I would have to wait until the payments finished processing before filing a dispute. I was also told that once a dispute was filed, resolution could take days or weeks. On XX/XX/XXXX, I filed a payment dispute claim with Bank of America. I was told the issue could take between XXXX and 45 days to resolve. That is not acceptable. I reported the issue quickly. The withdrawals were clearly duplicate transactions. The merchant later admitted there was a billing system issue. Yet Bank of America did not give me immediate protection, did not stop the pending duplicate withdrawals, did not provide clear emergency relief, and did not provide a satisfactory explanation for why XXXX identical payments were allowed to process without being flagged. I am not claiming Bank of America created XXXX XXXX XXXX billing system error. XXXX XXXX XXXX caused the duplicate withdrawals. However, Bank of America is responsible for protecting its customer, properly handling unauthorized electronic funds transfer/error claims, investigating suspicious transaction patterns, reversing related bank fees, and providing timely relief when unauthorized duplicate withdrawals hit a customers account. Bank of America failed me in the following ways : XXXX. Bank of America allowed XXXX identical {$170.00} withdrawals from the same merchant to process without customer verification. XXXX. Bank of America failed to alert me to the duplicate transaction pattern. XXXX. Bank of America had recently flagged and verified a much smaller gas station transaction, yet failed to act on nearly {$900.00} in repeated withdrawals. XXXX. Bank of America failed to provide immediate meaningful help when I reported the issue. XXXX. Bank of America told me nothing could be done while the payments were pending. XXXX. Bank of America forced me into a dispute process that could take XXXX to 45 days, even though the withdrawals were obvious duplicates and the merchant admitted to a system issue. XXXX. Bank of America failed to explain what fraud review, risk controls, or account protection measures were applied. XXXX. Bank of America failed to immediately confirm that any overdraft, insufficient funds, returned payment, transfer, or related fees would be reversed. As a result of this incident, I am requesting that Bank of America provide the following resolution : XXXX. Treat this matter as a formal unauthorized electronic funds transfer/error claim. XXXX. Immediately credit my account for the four unauthorized duplicate withdrawals totaling {$710.00}, unless XXXX XXXX XXXX has already fully refunded those funds. XXXX. Reimburse or reverse all overdraft fees, insufficient funds fees, returned payment fees, transfer fees, late fees, maintenance fees, or any other charges caused by these unauthorized duplicate withdrawals. XXXX. Provide written confirmation that this incident will not negatively affect my Bank of America account standing, internal customer profile, overdraft history, risk status, or banking relationship. XXXX. Provide a written explanation for why XXXX identical {$170.00} withdrawals from the same merchant were allowed to process without being blocked, flagged, or verified. XXXX. Provide a written explanation of why Bank of America could flag and verify a small gas station purchase on XX/XX/XXXX, but did not flag or verify XXXX duplicate withdrawals from XXXX XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. XXXX. Provide written confirmation of what options are available to prevent XXXX XXXX XXXX from withdrawing any additional unauthorized or duplicate payments from my account. XXXX. Confirm whether Bank of America can place an XXXX block, stop payment, merchant restriction, or other protection against additional unauthorized withdrawals from XXXX XXXX XXXX. XXXX. Provide a clear written explanation of the dispute timeline, provisional credit decision, and investigation process. XXXX. Provide written confirmation that Bank of America has reviewed this complaint at an escalated level and not merely routed it through standard customer service.

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