Consumer complaint received 2025-02-06 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Fees or interest — Problem with fees
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: OH

Complaint narrative:
This is a complaint about Bank of America Credit Cards charging late fees and increasing expected payments. 

We typically pay {$210.00} each month on the credit card. We sent the check in as we do each month on the XXXX, payment is due the XXXX of each XXXX. Nothing changed in XXXX other than that the payment was not processed until the XXXX. When I asked about the delay I was told that " it sometimes happens '' and I should basically pay a month in advance to ensure that this does not happen. I don't believe this was a delay due to the post office. I believe it was a delay in processing on their end. 

I was charged a late fee in XXXX of {$28.00}, paid the regular amount in XXXX, only to find that in the between when bills that were sent, Bank of America accessed a second late fee of {$39.00} and increased the payments. I know owe a whopping {$380.00} for XXXX when my regular payments were {$210.00} and I have paid every month like clockwork. 

There was no help from the online chat or when I called customer service. Both avenues began by stating that their primary action is to act as a collection service. I PAY MY BILLS EACH MONTH. My suspicion is that Bank of America can delay processing of checks and simply charge late fees as they please. They could not provide any information other than " there is sometimes a delay '' in processing funds. 

I know Bank of America was recently found guilty with a class action suit for similar deceptive practices with their late fees on checking accounts. When talking with customer service I said in the heat of the moment that " if a class action suit was filed against Bank of America credit card company I would be the first in line as a witness! '' Their response was " you go ahead and do that sir. '' I did nothing wrong. I pay my bills on time as I do every month, but was egregiously charged late fees and offered no assistance when inquiring about the situation. If there are delays in the processing of funds then there should be a grace period to when late fees can be charged.

My hope is that CFPB can gather enough complaints to make Bank of America Credit Cards Accountable for their deceptive practices. I wish I could say that this is a one off event but several, several years ago ( like 20 years ago ) I went through the same thing with Bank of America. 

I was younger then, so I paid the outstanding balance, only for them to cash the missing check 2 days later. In essence I paid a late fee and Bank of America collected an " extra payment '' for which I could not afford at the time. Obviously the second payment goes toward the principal, but the late fees and extra interest goes directly to their coffers. 

I truly believe that they are sporadically delaying the processing of checks on random accounts so that " late fees '' can be accessed and collected. The part that really upsets me was that when I contacted them, I was treated like I never paid my bills and their only concern was to collect money that should have never been owed! Additionally, I was told to go to " electronic bill pay '' to avoid this issue in the future. I am late middle aged man, I like controlling where and when my funds are pulled from my account. I should not have to change because of the company 's incompetence to process funds received in the form of a check. 

Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me! I will NOT be a customer with Bank of America for much longer. As soon as I raise enough funds to significantly pay down the principal and transfer the remaining amount to another credit card, I WILL CANCEL my credit card with Bank of America. 

I hope this company can be investigated from the top down and forced to clean up their act or be sold off to banks that are run more legitimately.

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