Bank of America's No Human Contact checking account

[marmar]

July 15 (Bloomberg) -- Bank of America Corp. has a novel way to lure more customers: Free checking accounts for folks who never again enter the bank.

The bank, the largest in the U.S. by assets, is introducing an account on Aug. 6 that won’t include a monthly fee or minimum balance requirement unless the customer wants to use a teller or receive a monthly statement through the mail, said David Owen, a senior vice president for checking and debit at the Charlotte, North Carolina-based company. Visiting a branch to make a deposit will trigger an $8.95 fee per month, he said.

Bank of America has tested the program in Georgia for eight months with a third of new customers selecting the account, Owen said in an interview yesterday. “It has had a much broader appeal than we initially thought,” he said.

Bank of America is looking for more ways to make money from consumer banking amid a U.S. regulatory overhaul, which ratings company DBRS Inc. estimated may cut $1.9 billion from the lender’s annual debit-card and credit-card revenue. The Senate may vote as soon as this week on a bill that also establishes a consumer financial protection agency.

Bank of America views the new account as different from the mid-1990s programs by First Chicago Corp. and other banks to levy $3 fees on people who dealt with tellers instead of automated teller machines. The banks later dropped the charges after criticism from customers. ............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20603037&sid=auc2RSdhrKNU

[sandyj999]

1. And this is one of the reasons they no longer have me as a customer.

Now my community credit union has it all and I couldn't be happier!

[FormerDittoHead]

2. FYI, Our credit union has free checking, "human" contact AND paper statements...

...no minimum balance on that checking, either.

I think the story above just shows how well "marketing" does to make us eat soggy potato chips.

If you offer a child the choice between a crisp potato chip and a soggy one, he'll choose the crisp.

But if the choice is between a soggy potato chip and NO potato chip, he'll eat the soggy one.

Mission accomplished, Bank of America!

[hobbit709]

3. Same with my credit union too.

And when I pull up at the drive through, the cashier greets me by name before she gets the deposit slip.

[dmallind]

4. I get free (interest bearing actually) checking already, but would go for this if

my only way to avoid fees. I am long past needing whatever support humans are supposed to offer that machines don't when it comes to banking. I can deposit, withdraw, check balances, transfer, bill pay, apply for loans and even set up new accounts online or at ATMs. Why do I need to take time off work during banker's hours, drive to a specific location, stand in line, and take my chances on the much greater variation in human speed and accuracy to do anything that a bank does?

[Warren DeMontague]

5. I'm COMPLETELY on it.

I don't go inside, wait in line, and deal with a human being unless absolutely necessary. In my experience, the humans fuck up far more often than the ATMs, too.