Interested in telling Bank of America what they can do with their $5 debit card charge? One woman, 22-year-old Molly Katchpole, has started a petition that you can sign here. She has gathered more than 220,000 signatures and a phone call from Andrew Plepler, Bank of America’s social responsibility and consumer policy executive (don’t you love that title?). No satisfaction, but a phone call nonetheless. See what happens when you say “please” in your petition?
I am completely bewildered by people’s reaction to this. Let me tell a story about B of A.
Several years ago, B of A bought a bank called MBNA. I had had a money market account for more than a decade with MBNA because they always paid good interest, provided good, accurate statements, and never, ever let me down in any way. Then they were sold and my account automatically became B of A. The interest paid went down, a lot. I moved to transfer my money and encountered obstacle after obstacle, but finally succeeded. It took two phases of correspondence before I finally got the account fully closed. When you talk about bankers without a heart, IMO you are over-rating B of A. They are the bankers without a soul. Just one man’s opinion.
Why am I bewildered? Because the answer is very simple. Close the damn account and get one at a credit union or a small town bank, one where the people have souls. It might take an effort, but believe me, it’s worth it.
Why bother? The best thing BOA customers–all bank customers, really–can do for themselves is close their accounts and move their money to credit unions.
I was just putting the info out there FYI. I have a BofA credit card because they took over my MBNA account and it’s a long-standing account that I don’t want to give up. All my other banking business is done with a local bank. Terri, you may recall I wrote some time ago about switching to local banks and I finally got it done at the end of last year. Of course, my local bank could start charging debit card fees, too. Ugh. Changing banks is a huge hassle, what with checks, credit cards, ATM cards, automatic deposits and automated payments, and safe deposit boxes.
Close my B of A. business & accounts today.
On to a Credit Union
M. Sonips
That’s one small step for man … Congratulations!