"Keep The Change You Filthy Animals" Exposing Bank Of America.

With all the uncertainty in today's economy, I decided I needed a lower risk investment. So, I went with a traditional savings account at Bank of America. The interest rate is less than 1 percent but I figured that was better than losing 50% in the stock market. The sales rep in my local BOA branch convinced me to sign up for their "keep the change" program. She also threw in what is called "overdraft protection." I figured I was covered against all their fees, since I had several thousand dollars available in savings and never purchased anything more than a couple hundred dollars with my debit card. Boy was I wrong.

For those of you who don't know, the BOA "Keep the Change" with "Overdraft Protection" program rounds up all your debit card purchases to the nearest dollar and places that "change" into your savings account. So, if you purchase something at Dunkin Donuts for lets say $5.32, BOA will charge your checking account $6.00 and send the $0.68 from checking to your savings account. And if you exceed the available funds in checking, BOA will transfer $100 from savings back to checking, ie "overdraft protection." Sound pretty worry free doesn't it?

However, what they don't tell you when you give them your money is that there is a $10 fee for everytime they "protect" you from overdrafts. That is a 10% service fee on YOUR $100 that they take from YOUR Savings account and put into YOUR checking account. Its a computer program that plays with your money and than charges you fees. The best part is that the only reason you might need money transfered back from savings back into checking is because of their "Keep the Change" program, which could leave your checking account less than $1.00 overdrawn.

I SAY to BANK OF AMERICA, YOU "KEEP THE CHANGE, YOU FILTHY ANIMALS!!!"

Other Fees I was charged:
1.) Excessive ATM Use Fee. Using the ATM more than 3 times in one month. Yes, to access my money in a BOA account, at a BOA ATM, I was charged $3.00 for each ATM withdrawal after the third one in a calender month, regardless of the dollar amount. However, in their own terms, I have unlimited ATM withdrawals if my balance exceeds $2,500, which it did the entire month, with the exception of 1 day. When I called to complain, I was basically told that there was nothing they could do.

2.) Monthly Maintenance Fee. If you are wondering why I just refrained from signing up for the "Keep the Change" program, which I describe above. Believe me, I tried. However, if you have a savings account with BOA and you do not participate in the program, you are charged a $3.00 monthly maintenance fee, every month, regardless of account activity.

3.) Using a non-BOA ATM. We are all familiar with this one. I made this mistake and paid upwards of $10 by the time BOA and the bank whose ATM I made the mistake of using was done with me.

My advice . . . Tell those filthy animals at BOA to keep their "Keep the Change" program.
Since fees far exceed the interest gained by keeping your money in a bank, just start keeping your money at home in a safe. There is no interest but there are no fees, what you put in it will be there until you take it out. To pay your bills, pay cash in person, or just keep the minimum you need in a checking account to pay your bills or simply use money orders from the post office. Forget these banks and their predatory fees. Life is better without fees, electronic funds transfers, and the other nonsense that we think makes life easier.