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Is It Time To Pull Your Money Out of Bank Of America?

Erik Folgate

I just read this article on CNN Money, and it made me a little worried.

We have our primary checking account with Bank of America, but I am about ready to close the account and switch to a credit union. I have kept our checking account with Bank of America for two reasons. We have a lot of bills that automatically draft from that account and our paychecks are set up with direct deposit into that account. I know that I can change all of that, but it would take a lot of time to get done. The other reason is that Bank of America can be found almost anywhere in the Southeast. The convenience of finding an ATM wherever we are has been nice. But, I think the time has come.

Bank of America’s stock dipped below $4.00 a share earlier today before rallying to rise 4 percent for the day. Bank of America has received over $45 billion dollars from the Troubled Asset Relief Program, also known as TARP. But, this money has not helped them. Their eyes were too big for their stomach when they snatched up Countrywide and Merrill Lynch back in the summer and fall. They’ve had a hard time dealing wth these acquisitions. Ironically, Bank of America could become the first bank owned by America.

I know that my money is FDIC insured, but I don’t want to be like those people who had money in IndyMac banks and had it frozen from a few days time. That would be devastating to us. For those of you with a Bank of America account, what do you think about this? Are you going to switch banks?

Categories: Banking, Economy & Policy

Erik Folgate
Erik and his wife, Lindzee, live in Orlando, Florida with a baby boy on the way. Erik works as an account manager for a marketing company, and considers counseling friends, family and the readers of Money Crashers his personal ministry to others. Erik became passionate about personal finance and helping others make wise financial decisions after racking up over $20k in credit card and student loan debt within the first two years of college. Another one of Erik's projects is the site, Stuff We Google.

Learn more - including co-founders Andrew Schrage and Gyutae Park.

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Comments

  • Casey

    I have BoA. I have no clue what this means or what to do. But if I am going to loose my money, I need someone to tell me b/c I am not financially savvy enough to figure it out myself. I try to listen to everything that is going on with the economy, but I feel really lost in it all. It is so over my head. So, I really don’t know what to make of this.

  • http://wisefinish.com Wise Finish

    I would recommend getting out and bolting for your local credit union. Credit Unions have largely been unaffected by the current financial “crisis”. On top of that they are a great place to stash your money.

  • Allenjr

    Switch to Wells Fargo. By far, Americas safest Bank! ! !

  • r

    Pull now and watch for some action on the part of the Feds this Thursday and Friday. With Greenspan and Dodd citing nationalization this appears imminent.

  • Casey

    So what did you end up doing? I am still with Bank of America. I am not sure that it matters what bank I am with if they are all doing bad.

  • author

    yeah, I am still with BoA. It’s a daunting task to think about switching when you have two paychecks on direct deposit and three bills on direct pay as well. It’s not that tough to switch that stuff, but who has time to think about it during the week.

    • http://www.facebook.com/gail.burgdorfgaines Gail Burgdorf-Gaines

      It is not as hard as you make it seem. Really pretty simple. Change is good, especially if its in your pocket!

  • DG

    I think a lot of banks are in the same position but I pulled out over the summer. I just didn’t feel secure leaving my money there. I went to wells fargo instead

  • Jim and Mary

    We were with Wells Fargo. I didn’t trust them, simply because even the Tellers can’t make change correctly. That was good enough for me. We decided to try Core Trust, then finally Bank of America, The help anymore is worse than McDonalds.

    Finally, seen this economic BS getting worse and I mean, If you don’t have 100,000 or more in the Bank, what do you need a Bank Account for? You are your own Bank. We pay a couple Bills with Money Orders. Big deal.

    Took our cash out in 100.00 dollar bills, easy to do, Close everything. less than 1% on savings, why let them hold your cash!??

    Our money is safe in a Vault at home. we go any place, just take some cash with. Nobody knows who you are, no address, no drivers license to be stolen off your Checks,total privacy and safety.

    We got a nice income tax return, WALMART cashs checks up to 6000.00…..

    Get your money out while you still can, the big one is very close!

  • alex

    i apoligize for the miss typed comment above me . yet,jim and mary have the right idea spend the extra thousand dollars by a vault and have your money sent into cash. its a million times safer and wtih the econmys money trouble i dont trust my money to anyone. i am an average citizn working a normal sales job makeing a normal wage and i keep it in my safe. theres no withdrawl fee no way for anyone else to get any of my money . its SAFE. pay your checks with money orders sale your house and rent one. dont use credit cards . theres no lose for you only gain pay everything in money orders and pay the person you are renting from in cash. then you dont have to deal with credit scores or anything. its a financial step i think everyone should take . im not some liberal tree huger im smart an dont trust banks with my money . plus, no identitys will be stolen through the bank

  • kmp

    take your money out of BoA now!!

    1) lawsuits are piling up on BoA and they’ve lost 60% of their net worth in a couple of years
    2) there is no mood in the country another bank bailout and there is no end in sight for the mortgage collapse
    3) it is the money you keep there that enable BoA’s malpractices

    if you don’t want to close it all together, but at least don’t keep the bulk of you saving in BoA. transfer the bulk of your assets in a bank you trust, preferably a local bank. if you have direct deposit, just setup automatic payment to your preferred bank account.

    from id theft, it may be better to close the account altogether, but honestly, i think once they have your info in the system, it’s too late to protect yourself by closing the bank account.

    • Dryheat

      You are a moron

  • Robert

    move your money to a credit union. everyone can find one to serve them – they’re usually locally owned and pay **slightly** better rates on deposits. You’ll also find them a good source for car loans, etc….

  • Dryheat

    All these comments are from non financial people with $500 in BA. Why would you even consider and advise from these people without 2 nickels to rub together?

    Crazy stupid

  • http://www.facebook.com/gail.burgdorfgaines Gail Burgdorf-Gaines

    I closed my account a couple years ago, after being a customer for 20 years with c.d. accounts and checking and savings.
    B Of A allowed a debit to go through my account leaving me overdrawn $1000.00! No one called me, no one mailed anything to me other then my usual statement! And like most, I had automatic payments that were being rejected, charging me overdraft $20 here $40 there, as a single mom, it squashed me! I was in L.A. working and found out I couldn’t afford to eat! And home was over 300 miles away. It was nothing short of a really bad move on their part, as for the business that falsely charged the $1500. I sued and won my case. BUT, my credit has suffered terribly, and I am not sure what I was supose to learn about being faithful to a bank and them smashing me like a pesty fly on their lunch salad. Oh yes I dont bank anymore thats my lesson. prepaid cards (walmart) is my recomendation.

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