Consumer complaint received 2026-04-16 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Advertising and marketing, including promotional offers — Confusing or misleading advertising about the credit card
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: MD

Complaint narrative:
I obtained a XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX in XXXX, XXXX as part of my Bank of America account. Bank of America was my sole banking organization, for my wife and I, our children, and my business. My BoA XXXX credit card was my sole credit card for over 20 years. I constantly received mail from BoA offering a XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX promising no interest on the cash advance type loan for 12 months. We had an upcoming family vacation and with our daughter in college and our son 's high school tuition it seemed like a good financial decision to help fund the trip. The advance was for {$15000.00} with an additional {$600.00} fee. I read the fine print very carefully on the mailings several times. I called BoA on XXXX occasions before initiating the XXXX XXXX to clarify the details or any potential negative issues or " catches '' with the offer. I was assured twice during lengthy phone calls that there was nothing I was not understanding. I asked and explained to the representatives that " If I continue to pay my full credit card charges monthly as I always had done for over 20 years, I would have no issue with the Cash Advance, no penalties, and I would have XXXX year to repay before any interest was added to the loan, and they both assured me yes. After receiving the cash advance in the months that followed in early XXXX I noticed changes on my credit card statement and extra interest and fees owed. When I called to inquire to BoA several times in XXXX of XXXX I was told the program functioned very differently than what was sent and told to me. I was explained to at those times about the 'credit card grace period ' and how that ended with the payment of the XXXX XXXX and how interest on my purchases began accruing immediately. I tried to sort this out and understand this on several phone calls and my own research, and XXXX BoA representative actually said " you should have opened another credit card before doing this. '' And that I " should have used that for purchases. '' This was never told to me. I did not realize I would be so significantly penalized for obtaining the XXXX XXXX that BoA so heavily advertised to me. I also did not realize I would be punished for being a sole card loyal user customer for over 20 years. Of course, obtaining a new card is a process itself and you start with a much lower credit limit. I had soundly built my BoA credit limit to over {$40000.00} by that time. Unsurprisingly, payments were hard to make for those initial credit card statements, plus additional interest and fees. Since that time I have tried to always pay the 'minimum due ' on my account to prevent further interest from accruing, but this has proved difficult as well. In my contact with them and their administrative divisions, BoA has not been helpful in addressing their false and misleading advertising and their multi-person false explanation of the program. They have been inflexible and unfair in adjusting the amount due and the plan for regular repayment, because of course the Advance itself also needed to be paid back. I stopped using my card, and the credit limit approached full anyway. I obtained a second card through a different bank and have been working hard to build my account and credit with timely payments, as I always did with BoA for over 20 years. It's clear even without use of my card BoA was fine on receiving my monthly interest payments to replace the fees they would receive from businesses with my prior monthly card use. With lack of 'minimum due ' payments BoA reaches out regarding payments, but never to assist me or reconcile their false advertising and misleading program ; which likely has affected other customers as well.

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