Bank of America account closings spiked after the Charlotte bank announced a controversial $5 debit card fee, but its checking and savings account balances appear largely unaffected.
Account closings were up 20 percent in the fourth quarter over the same time period in 2010, CEO Brian Moynihan told analysts during a conference call Thursday, as the bank became the target of criticism around the country.
Once the bank canceled plans for the fee, Moynihan said the closings slackened.
Despite the closings, average checking and savings account balances were down less than half a percent from the quarter before, to $204 billion, according to financial results released Thursday.
"Yes, we had some impact from the $5 debit fee. That's why we made the decision to reverse it," Moynihan said Thursday on the conference call. "Those impacts, in the scheme of things, will be manageable."
Total average and period-end deposits were down 1 percent from the quarter before, to about $1 trillion. The bank attributed it mainly to a decrease in high-interest time deposits like CDs. Deposits were still up from the fourth quarter 2010.
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3 comments:
Let's give it a little more time. I closed mine because of the ongoing poor service and increased fees that they have put into place. However, I had to open a new account at a local bank, move all my "bill pay" information over so I could electronically bill pay, and closed the old account in an orderly fashion just this week.
In the past 18 months I've moved 2 business accounts from BOA and 4 business accounts from Wells due to poor service and new fees. We moved to a local bank where the tellers are all very professional, sit in offices, and despite their relatively (to BOA) small size, they can still perform all of the functions we need better than the big banks.
I am with BB&T and could not be happier. They are just large enough in the region to meet my needs but not so big that I feel like a number when dealing with them. Wife is with RBC and they now charge a $4 fee on a savings account. Basically, the account loses money. I guess the purpose is to get customers who do not want to maintain a minimum balance to close them out. I will be having her close out the rest of her accounts as well. Too bad for them.
thank you for this helpful article
david brown
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