Well, many people are familiar with what Bank of America has done to screw over people who are here on visas or have foreign-sounding names. If not, here is a link to a news article:
www.latimes.com/…
Two excerpts from the story:
The Miami Herald in an article Thursday recounted how a PhD student from Iran who was studying at the University of Miami had his Bank of America account frozen after documentation he had provided as proof of legal residency was not accepted.
In another incident, the Kansas City Star reported last month that a Wichita-born man’s account with the Charlotte, N.C., banking giant was frozen after he ignored a form asking if he was a U.S. citizen or held dual citizenship.
I am pretty sure that there was a diary about this, but can’t seem to find it. Perhaps someone could add it in the comments.
Anyway, when I read about this over the long weekend, I decided to close the credit card I have with them (and have had since 2003). First, I looked at old statements and found I had 4 different automatic payments, such as Hulu and an insurance company. I went online and switched those payments over to a different card.
Next, I credited my account with my cash rewards that have been building up (about $70).
Finally, today, I called the card to cancel it. Here is the interesting part of the story. The lady I talked to could not have been nicer, and she thought that she would be hearing from people closing their accounts for this reason! And she applauded me for doing that! She said that even though we were being recorded, she wanted to tell me that she supports my cancellation! She is going to collect feedback about this reason to present to management. I was apparently the first person to cancel in light of this news, but I sure hope I’m not the last one.
So, if you have a Bank of America card, now is the PERFECT time to cancel it! (Assuming you can do that, of course...)