Consumer complaint received 2025-12-27 00:00:00
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Managing an account — Deposits and withdrawals
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: NC

Complaint narrative:
I moved to XXXX, North Carolina as of XX/XX/year> and I wanted to switch to a bank that had more local locations. 

I opened a joint checking account with my wife and switched my direct deposit over to Bank of America as of XX/XX/year> through XXXX, our XXXX system to allow time for the changes to take in the system. I entered an incorrect account number, inadvertently switching XXXX digits. My next payment was scheduled to be deposited on XX/XX/year>. 

I caught the mistake on the morning of XX/XX/year> and immediately contacted my XXXX department who let me know that I should contact my bank, which I did. I let the representative know all the details of the transaction as well as the context. The Bank of America representative informed me that we should give the payment time ( XXXX business days ) to reject since the name on the deposit would not match the name on the checking account. They also submitted a missing direct deposit inquiry form, which I later learned on XX/XX/year> was closed within XXXX business day. 

On XX/XX/year>, I contacted my XXXX  department again who let me know that they would enter a reversal request for the funds from the same account that they sent it to and that it could take up to XXXX business days to process. 

On the same day I received a mailed response from Bank of America saying that there wasnt an error because they never received the direct deposit I inquired about. I assumed it wouldnt be an issue because XXXX department said they had already put in motion the reversal of the original transaction. 

On XX/XX/year>, I received word from my XXXX department that Bank of America had rejected their request for a reversal due to insufficient funds in the account where funds were incorrectly deposited. I immediately called Bank of America to inquire about this. They, again, let me know that they wouldnt deposit funds into an account that didnt match my name, but offered to enter another direct deposit inquiry which would be actioned by XXXX XXXX XXXX. 

I called back on the same day with hopes of being transferred to the fraud department. By this time, I was more aware that no investigation to where these funds went had been performed and per regulation XXXX, a provisional credit could have been issued pending the investigation. I escalated twice to XXXX senior representatives. The first escalation went to a gentleman who provided conflicting information and refused to transfer me to the fraud department because this situation didnt constitute fraud in his point of view. Per Bank of Americas own website, this is exactly a situation for fraud. My funds were incorrectly deposited into another persons account who subsequently moved the funds out of Bank of Americas control. The second representative I spoke with ultimately told me that my employers bank would need to issue the claim, though she could provide no information on what type of claim, the name of the claim, if it was an internal form, where to find it, how to submit it, a turnaround time or any further detail. Furthermore, this wasnt stated on any previous interaction with Bank of America and she could provide no reason as to why. 

Following this set of events, I contacted my XXXX department who just needed to know exactly what steps they needed to follow to issue this claim. The XXXX rep called Bank of America who said that I needed to submit another direct deposit inquiry to have Bank of America investigate this, as she, the XXXX rep, could not submit a claim on my behalf. So round and round we go, with a week of me being without the funds. I talked later with another Bank of America representative who entered a direct deposit inquiry on my behalf. 

The following day on XX/XX/year>, I called in again and was offered a direct deposit inquiry yet again with a XXXX business day turnaround time. He also suggested that I contact the state attorneys office. The concern I have is genuine as XXXX not sure this would have come to light had I not discovered and tracked this all the way through. If I followed initial instructions by Bank of America, I never wouldve processed a reversal with my XXXX department and never learned that there were insufficient funds on the reversal transaction.

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