Bank of America Casts Wider Net For Hispanics Aiming New Credit Card At Illegal Immigrants

WSJ ^ | February 13, 2007 | MIRIAM JORDAN and VALERIE BAUERLEIN

[meyer]

I would recommend not accepting checks issued from Bank of America. Time to shut them down. If they want to be accomplices to this crime, then they can do so without my business.

Frankly, I think that they should be prosecuted.

[albee]

I am closing my B of A checking account that I have had for over 23 years TODAY because of this policy.

My letter to B of A cancelling the account will state the reason why.

[wodinoneeye]

Will be integrated into existing Credit Card systems so that everyone can pay extra to cover the additional losses.

When alot of the Mexicans go back to Mexico and plan never to return (or with another fake ID) they wont even think twice about not paying off accumulated credit card debt.

The companies will justify raising their current usury rate even higher (it never comes out of their end, only the consumers...).

[meyer]

My BofA Credit Card is issured by the US Government and I MUST use it for travel expenses.

I had one of those until 5 minutes ago. I just closed the account (actually, I found out that it was closed 2 months ago when I left dot-gov for a real job in the private sector). I don't know about your branch of government, but in the area I was working, the card was all but useless anyway. I still had to fill out a cryptic expense report whenever I travelled even though I used that card. Direct billing was my preference.

[Alberta's Child]

I'm not sure where I fall on this one, though the notion that someone can get a bank account of any kind without a valid Social Security number these days seems extremely odd.

One interesting angle to this is a historic one. Bank of America was founded back in the late 1800s as America's first "personal bank" at a time when banks catered exclusively to large corporations. The founder was a guy out in San Francisco who realized that the Protestant work ethic of this country had cultivated an economic climate in which the largest "customer base" for a bank -- by a wide margin -- was the combined purchasing power of ordinary Americans.

[stbdside]

They should rename it Bank of Amexica.

[Old Professer]

Some call it predatory lending, others call it getting a piece of the pie.

[DaiHuy]

"The new Bank of America program is open to people who lack both a Social Security number and a credit history, as long as they have held a checking account with the bank for three months without an overdraft. Most adults in the U.S. who don't have a Social Security number are undocumented immigrants."

Now my question is how did they get a checking account without a Socialist Insecurity number. My bank said it was required by law for me to provide it.

Were they lying to me?

[rirepublican]

Fox News just reported this, said a lot of the big banks are doing it. Does anyone have any suggestions? Live in Orlando area.

[MrB]

Does the back of the card have pictures of little droplets of water on it?

[Brilliant]

Try little banks. CNL Bank, maybe.

[DustyMoment]

Good for you. I won't be too far behind you.

[Rakkasan1]

BOHICA America

[Rodney King]

Anyone know what kind of ID they require? I wouldn't mind getting a credit card in the name of Jose Hernandez and donating it all to the Minutemen.

[art_rocks]

so is it a good time to short BOA?

[colorado tanker]

I don't understand this as a business decision. How can they protect themselves from default?

So-called subprime lending is hot these days - there's money to be made. They protect themselves with higher fees and interest rates and sometimes required minimum bank balances.

[puff dummy]

with all of this free credit, the number of illegals cruising my neighborhood in customized 10 year old civics should triple! good thing the constant drone of those custom exhaust systems isn't annoying at all.

[Jmouse007]

My family and I have been Bank of America customers for over 30 years. We have done thousands upon thousands, upon thousands of dollars worth of business with them and have used their credit card for nearly all our large purchases. This tears it, they care more about giving credit to ILLEGAL aliens than they do LAW ABIDING CITIZENS of the United States. This is going to result in BILLIONS OF DOLLARS in fraudulent debt that BOA will expect me and my family to cover with higher credit rates and higher user fees. Well, listen up BO: my entire family is transferring ALL of our remaining balances, cutting up the BOA credit cards and letting Bank of America, now the Bank of MEXICO know that they have lost our business FOR EVER!

I am sure we are not alone, Please let Bank of America know that you are not going to foot the bill for billions of dollars in bad credit card debt because they want to give credit cards to ILLEGAL aliens.

Boycott the Bank of America!

[Jmouse007]

Bank of America is feeling the heat as a result of the massive fallout on the part of law abidding American customers of their new illegal alien credit card program/scam. This morning, (Thursday February 22, 2007) Fox News ran a lengthy news spot citing damage control that Bank of America put out for mass consumption basically saying:

"You know that Illegal Alien" credit card program/deal we've got going? Well, it ain't what it is. Who are you going to believe; us or your lying eyes."

The letter was all: "We are performing a legal service and are not breaking any laws." Yadda, yadda, jive talk. Nowhere do they deny doing what they are doing: providing credit and credit cards to illegal aliens. Nowhere in the spot or in their statement does Bank of America say; "How could we have been so stupid, we hear the outrage of our legal American citizen customers and are going to stop this program immediately."... NO, none of that, just a basic: "Ignore that man pulling those levers behind the curtain, don't leave, we want your business/money" baloney.

Anyway, the FOX News people stated that BOA was losing a lot of customers and that a lot of people (like myself) had stopped using there credit cards, had cut them up/jumped ship and gone with other banks who do NOT give credit cards to ILLEGAL aliens.

The whole point of the news spot and Bank of America/MEXICO's statement was that the boycott is having an immediate effect. BOA/M is feeling it in their bottom line.

I am posting this to let everyone know that the boycott of this bank that supports illegals over law abiding American citizens is working. Keep up the good work!