Bank of America, the largest financial institution operating in Southwest Florida, is taking heat from thousands of customers angry over its decision to eliminate no-fee checking accounts.
The bank is eliminating its eBanking account, which was introduced in 2010, that carried no monthly fee if customers did not receive paper statements or use tellers in branches for routine transactions. Otherwise, it cost $8.95 a month.
Those customers are being moved into other checking accounts that require them to maintain a daily balance of $1,500 or set up a monthly direct deposit of at least $250 to avoid the maintenance fee of $12 a month.
Some ticked-off customers launched a petition at Change.org, hoping to garner at least 150,000 signatures to convince Bank of America to reinstate the cheaper account. As of mid-day Thursday morning, it had topped 105,000. Many say the fee targets lower-income families who can least afford to pay it.
"I have a Bank of America account, and I can't afford $12 a month being a single mother," Elizabeth Caffee wrote on the petition. "That's a pack of diapers or food for my children. It's basically another bill to pay."
"I am a 30-plus-year customer. As a senior person can't afford to pay a bank fee. Really BOA!!," Paula Smith wrote.
Bank spokeswoman Betty Reiss said the eBanking account had become outdated and had not been offered to new customers for several years. Mobile banking reduced the need for that account, she said, and the bank wanted to encourage customers to visit branches to learn about new products and services.
The bank would not reveal how many customers were affected by the change. The bank as of last year ranked second by assets nationally and first in Florida and in Sarasota-Manatee by deposits.
In the year ended June 30, the bank added $299 million in customer deposits to bring its total to $4.1 billion in the two counties, a 20.26 percent market share, according to data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
It ranked second in Charlotte County with $718.3 million in deposits, or 19.78 percent of the banking market.
While totally free checking accounts are rare among big banks, many of them do offer accounts that will waive fees if the customer opts for direct deposit of payroll or Social Security checks, maintains certain minimum balances or declines monthly paper statements. Many credit unions still offer no-fee checking accounts.
Here comes the tax man
Tax filing season begins today, and procrastinators will be happy to learn that they get an extra two days to file their returns this year.
The Internal Revenue Service will begin processing electronic filings right away, but paper returns won't be processed until mid-February as the agency continues to upgrade its systems.
The deadline to file, typically April 15, falls on April 17 this year. The 15th is a Sunday, and the 16th is Emancipation Day — a legal holiday in the District of Columbia — so the final day to file is the following Tuesday.
As always, the IRS says e-filing and direct deposit are the fastest and safest ways to file and receive a refund. More than 80 percent of tax returns will be e-filed this year.
Taxpayers with incomes of $66,000 or less are eligible for the IRS Free File, available from a number of commercial tax services. Visit www.irs.org for details about free filing and for additional information.
Contact John Hielscher at 361-4875, fax to 361-4880 or email john.hielscher@heraldtribune.com.