Bank Of America Glitch Means No Paychecks For Many

from the happy-holidays dept

Bank of America runs a TV commercial around here (I have no clue how widely it plays) where they have a guy who works at the bank talking about just how many checks they process, and saying something along the lines of: "this isn't about processing nearly 11 billion checks a year flawlessly. It's a matter of accurately handling one single check, and then repeating it 11 billion times." Apparently, they need to do a bit more work. Just in time for last minute holiday shoppers, Bank of America failed to process many direct deposit paychecks late last week -- meaning an awful lot of people simply didn't get paid. The company is now promising to cover any bounced check fees -- but that's probably not that comforting to people who looked at their balance and saw it a lot lower than they expected.
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  • identicon
    ryan, 19 Dec 2005 @ 3:26am

    Bank of America wants to lose business

    I heard something about this on Clark Howard (host of a personal finance radio show):

    Bank of America is trying to lose some of its business because it is looking to buyout another bank and absorb all of its clients. However, there is some U.S. act that says no 1 bank can hold more than 10% of the American population's assets (undoubtedly a law made after the depression). So, if Bank of America now holds 7.5% of American assets and wants to buy OTHER BANK that has 3%, it cant, at least not until it drives some of its customers away. As evidence this isnt just a crackpipe theory, Bank of America recently announced that they will be lowering their rate of return for savings accounts to be on par with the worst in the country.

    I really like your website very much for content, but its not especially pleasing on the eyes.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Mike, 19 Dec 2005 @ 6:02am

      Re: Bank of America wants to lose business

      Ryan,

      Sorry to get off topic but haven't you ever heard of KISS, Keep It Simple Stupid!

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    thecaptain, 19 Dec 2005 @ 5:06am

    No Subject Given

    Yeah I love how banks always trot this one out, "We'll cover your bounced check fee".

    Oh yeah? Will you cover the chewing out my landlord would do when my check bounces? Will you cover the fee HE incurs when it bounces (the answer is no). Will you chase the damn credit reporting companies to make ABSOLUTELY SURE my credit remains good (the answer to this is not only NO, but also "Its not our responsibility).

    My scumbag bank (before I switched) did the following with remarkable accuracy:

    When a paycheck was due for the 1st, at the same time as my rent check, they'd process the rent check at 12H01AM, bounce it, charge me 35 bucks, THEN at 12h02 process my paycheck, deduct everything. Of course, EVERY time, I'd get my 35 bucks back, but not the other fees I'd pay elsewhere for any bounced checks. Never mind that they always refused to have overdraft protection to cover this eventuality...because I'd bounced "too many checks" (The only ones EVER bounced were those ones).

    I hate banks.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 19 Dec 2005 @ 10:07am

      Re: No Subject Given

      thecaptain, just had something similar happen. Wells Fargo decided to wait to process all my paypal payments 6 days later, right in line with a transfer. Technically, and with all my setup with overdraft protection, this should have been perfectly fine, but since the transfer was floating right at the time hundreds of dollars of paypal went out, I got hit with $132 in overdraft fees, total bull.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Rick Ash, 19 Dec 2005 @ 6:22am

    Vonage Continues to Squueze Money

    They need all the money they can get. Their product performance is only slightly about that of ( pick one ) cellular performance.

    Good idea, mediocre performance

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    randdickson, 19 Dec 2005 @ 6:44am

    But will we ever know ?

    As one who was affected and also handles the direct deposits for my company, I'd love to know what really happened here. Our ACH file posted fine to all banks EXCEPT bank of America which is the bank we process through.

    One can only assume that they did a software upgrade of some kind which wasn't tested properly.

    Now, will they ever follow up their 'glitch' press release with the 'what actually happened' press release? Doubt it as most folks forget as soon as they money's in hand.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Trent, 19 Dec 2005 @ 7:24am

    BofA doth protest too much

    Anyone who has had experience dealing with BofA's back office will tell you they are not the most adept organization in the world. Their ad campaign seems to be based on the notion that if they keep saying they are good they will be.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 19 Dec 2005 @ 8:58am

      Re: BofA doth protest too much

      There are certain public utilities (such as The Gas Company) in Southern California, who blatantly state in their electronic payment/payment by phone service, that they will not accept any payments from Bank of America cards ...it's probably for a good reason too

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Cober, 19 Dec 2005 @ 10:55am

    When will people learn?

    Really, people -a simple answer. Use a Credit Union! I have never had any proplem at the my Credit Union that they did not bend over backwards to fix.
    I have paid my credit card a day late, and they didn't charge me a late fee or interest. They don't have minimum balance requirements for free checking(ok, I lied - it's $5.00 in the savings account). No teller charges, wiring and cashier's checks are cheap. They provid home equity loans, auto loans, just about everything you need a bank for (except safe deposit boxes).
    A Credit Union is obviously the way to go - would you rather bank with someone who is trying to make a profit off of you, or someone who is trying to break even off of you?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      spam blob, 19 Dec 2005 @ 10:13pm

      Re: When will people learn?

      Credit unions provide absolutely no benefit over most normal banks anymore. Maybe a few years ago that was the case, but nowadays they're just as crappy as Bank Of America.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

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