I have been with Bank of America for about three long years. My initial impression with the Bank of America
was good. I applied for the Bank of America Advantage Saving Account. The ATM card arrived within days of
application alongwith ATM card and the check book with my name and address imprinted. I was impressed.


I used my ATM card to my delight. I had no problem in taking cash because of the presence of the ubiquitous
ATMs available.

During last year I got a Credit card from bank of America. But I was not satisfied with its service. They
charge substantial annual fee. And the limit for my credit card was a paltry $500 even when I was having
more than $5000 in Saving Account continuously for the last 2 years. I was not impressed. I did not mind the
$500 credit limit, but I was annoyed at the annual maintenance fee for the credit card. But of course this
was my first credit card and I did not have any credit history.


Recently I used BoA service for wire transfer. The fee for the wire transfer was $20 for a wire transfer of
$5000. The service was quite fine. I got a confirmation for the wire transfer by snail mail too !!!


I changed my apartment during the last year , but there is always a Bank of America within 2 miles !!! Rather there were two Banks of America within the 2 mile distance

I have been using the online service quite frequently. I use the online bill payment for my telephone and
the electricity bills. I even got $25 promotion for using the online bill facility. I believe that bank of
America is paid by these companies when someone pays online. The online banking makes sure that I am able to
check my account for any fraud. Once about $60 was deducted from my wife's account, through her ATM by
unknown agent. But the issue was resolved. The money was returned by BoA , the ATM card was cancelled and a
new ATM card was issued.


As for the interest that I accrue on my account - it is paltry 0.25%. Every month I get few cents of
interest. This is ridiculuously low.I believe that other banks provide better returns.


I have not used the loan and mortgage services from Bank of America. So I am not able to comment. But the
way they charge fee and the low interest they pay I feel that other institutions have better rates to offer.
So I will be skeptical about Bank of America when using their services for loan and mortgage services.



What is good -

1. Ubiquitous Bank of America ATMs. I even found Bank of America ATMs at placed I did not imagine. I was
especially impressed by the Bank of America ATMs at almost all the major airports.


2. There is a sense of security with Bank of America. This sense of security may possibly be because it is a
large institution.


3. The online banking is a good facility. It offers ability to view ATM and credit card transaction on daily
basis.


4. The customer service is pretty impressive. If we are not satisfied we may walk down to any of the nearest
bank and have our problems resolved.



What is bad -

1. The service charges are exorbitant. The Bank of America requires minimum $5000 average monthly balance to
avoid $20 monthly maintenance fee. I feel that either the $20 maintenance fee or the $5000 minimum monthly
balance is a little bit too much.


2. The interest is quite low. My Advantage saving account gives me 0.25% per annum interest. Some Banks
offer 1% to 2% interest with similar deposits.


3. Being a big institution it is not flexible in dealing with its customers.



I conclusion, I am satisfied with the services of Bank of America. Fortunately I am able to maintain the
minimum monthly average balance of $5000 and I can avoid the monthly maintenance fee. Now that I am using
the services for more than 3 years I have become used to it. I feel lazy when I think of switching to any
other bank. I will have to change the online payments for the Bills. I will have to change the ACH transfer
that I use for fund transfer to other institution. I believe that one should try to find alternative to Bank
of America before opening account with it. Thinking from a completely materialistic point of view, I am sure
there are better institutions than Bank of America.








Recommended: No