Is Bank of America Good for Consumers

Although Bank of America was applauded for cutting costs and has been known for keep salaries moderate, it has been a forerunner in charging customers outrageous banking fees. Bank of America was the first bank to increase its ATM charges to $3. Their credit card minimum payment structure makes it easy for consumers to exceed their credit card limits and then get charged a 30% interest rate (universal default). Unfortunately most consumers were not aware that they had the option to opt-out of rate increases.

Bank of America has been slow in offering loan modifications for its customers. Although Bank of America made billions of dollars from late payment and other fees it still required a government bailout. What did they do with all that money if they were supposedly so frugal and cost contentious?

Bank of America has to pay $33 million to the Securities and Exchange Commission to settle charges that the bank misled investors with false claims of not being involved in the Merrill Lynch bonus payments.

The financial stability of a bank cannot be sustained when bank executives continue to earn millions of dollars each year in salaries and bonuses. Greed has caused many bank executives to forget the reason why they were hired – to help their customers and at the same time figure out how to make a profit. Executives are more concerned about maintaining their lifestyle than ensuring that they retain their customers. Maybe one day they will wake up and smell the Starbucks.