Good News: It Wasn't Fraud; It Was a Bank Error

Well the good news is that the mysterious withdrawal on my account was not fraud - it was just some sort of bank error. I was so happy to get the news that it wasn't fraud, plus I was really busy at work, so I didn't press for too many details. They told me the withdrawal was on an account that didn't match my name or account number. It was just some sort of error. So I got the mystery withdrawal amount back plus they credited me the $25 fee. I'm glad that it's not more serious and I'm thankful that I didn't bounce any checks in the meantime. I think it's pretty embarrassing to bounce a check, especially if writing one to a friend or family member. And then they also get hit with a fee. Would the bank also reimburse that fee? I can see how one bounced check can lead to cascading fees.

Thanks to those who commented and provided support. And by the way, it was Bank of America who made the error. Earlier today I tried to deposit some checks at the ATM, but they were out of deposit slips. That one branch had 3 ATMs around the outside, so I was pretty disgruntled about that. I was going to deposit over $1K.

All of these annoyances are making me think - is it time to get a new bank? I keep BofA for their ATM network, but I know that there are banks out there that will reimburse you for all ATM fees. I don't want to make too many financial changes at once, so I'll probably hold off for now.

Fraud Troubles?

I think that I have been a victim of some sort of identity theft. I noticed an unusual transaction in one of my bank accounts on Saturday. The transaction was for a cash withdrawal from Friday for an unusually large amount. I immediately asked my husband if he withdrew the money, even though he never uses that bank account. He didn't.

I was pretty frustrated that I wasn't able to report the fraud until today (I hate waiting for business hours), but I called it in and reported it today. My bank promised to get back to me within 48 hours.

This unusual transaction caused me to be overdrawn on my account - the first time ever in my life. I was almost overdrawn earlier in May since I forgot about a check I wrote to my cousin for his new baby (I don't like to keep a lot of money in this checking account - I use this bank mostly for their network of ATMs). That time it was the weekend, I realized that I had a bill payment scheduled for Monday for $10 more than I had in my account, so I just went and made a deposit at the ATM during the weekend.

I hate being overdrawn, but I don't want to deposit anymore money into my account until they figure out what happened. I don't want to give the fraudster access to any more of my money. And my bank promised to reimburse me for any fees related to fraudulent activity

I Was Mistaken to Trust Bank of America

Right now I am extremely frustrated with Bank of America. I decided to open their Defenders of Wildlife savings account as detailed at Hustler Money Blog last week. On last Friday I called and got the details. I was told that in order to open a joint account, my husband would need to be on the phone with me.

So on Saturday we called in. It took about 30 minutes. We closed our other Bank of America savings account and we were assured that our account would be opened shortly.

I log into online banking quite frequently and I saw that my other savings account was closed (probably on Tuesday), but the new one was not open. I happened to go into the branch yesterday, on Thursday since I had a check to deposit. While I was there, I decided to check on my new account. A personal banker agreed to call me back once she checked on it. I just got the call and found out:

1. the Defenders of Wildlife savings account was never opened
2. the Defenders of Wildlife savings rate declined (not a big surprise, but it declined much more than the fed rate)
3. the personal banker couldn’t even open up the account for me with the interest rate listed online (she told me this was because the rates online were national averages, I think better rates are available online than in the branches)

I had switched $10K from my ING Direct savings account to my linked Bank of America checking account in anticipation of this move. That’s about $10 in lost interest for me. On $10,000 with 4.3% interest, I make $8.26. Since this debacle is going to cost me a little more than a week’s interest, I’m rounding to about $10 of lost interest.

Here’s my calculation of how much interest I would be making:
($10,000*4.3%)/52 weeks = $8.26

These troubles with Bank of America’s customer service have led me to decide to take most of my business elsewhere. I am going to open ING Direct’s Electric Orange Checking Account (email me if you’re not a customer of theirs and want a referral) and move 95% of my checking account to ING Direct. I'm going to keep a $50 direct deposit going into my Bank of America account in order to keep on using their ATMS and avoid the $3 outside ATM fee.

I am also shopping around for a new savings account. For now I’ve moved my money back to ING Direct. As BostonGal noted, they are no longer the leader in the rates, but they do have signup bonuses, an easy interface, and great customer experience.

Banking Statements When You No Longer Bank There

I used to bank at Chase (aka JP Morgan Chase) when I lived in NY. I closed my account some time ago, probably in November or December of 2005. At that time, I transferred all of my money out. However, I earn some interest on my money that was credited after the account was closed. 2 cents to be exact. Now I STILL continue to get account statements, detailing the progress of my 2 cents. It has been at least 6 months, if not more since I closed the account. I was on the Chase website earlier since I have a Chase credit card. I decided to try and contact them to let me know that they can have my 2 cents or to ask them to transfer it to my credit card payment, but I couldn't get the link for "Contact Us" to work. Oh well.

I'm a consultant, I should parlay this knowledge into a proposal to Chase.