BOFA Secured Card - Why Apply?

[Kidcat]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@baller4life wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

Sure if you want to start a relationship with a bank that tries to steal money from their customers left and right, offers nothing better than a 0.15% CD savings rate, even if you're locked in for 10 years, offers medicore credit card rewards, and answers to Wall Street stockholders, then more power to you if you think that's an accomplishment.

Not sure why you'd want a relationship with a bank that puts its own interest before yours, when you can save more, earn more, and get more free stuff from other financial institutions.

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Bitter much? LOL. I take it you had a bad experience with BOA?

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Not really, it's just common sense. If you can't see that, there's no helping you.

If you'd rather not do business with an institution that provides free checking, free checks, friendlier customer service (because you are the owner), higher savings rates, and who isn't constantly in the news for either breaking the law and not reaching their profit bottom line for the quarter, then  I would respect what you have to say much more than I do right now.

If you'd rather call me bitter for using the common sense approach, I'd rather you just ignore me, thank you.

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I see you have a Citi card in your signature.  Weren't they guilty of the same thing as BOA, as well as Chase, Wells Fargo etc.?

[Anonymous]

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@Kidcat wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@baller4life wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

Sure if you want to start a relationship with a bank that tries to steal money from their customers left and right, offers nothing better than a 0.15% CD savings rate, even if you're locked in for 10 years, offers medicore credit card rewards, and answers to Wall Street stockholders, then more power to you if you think that's an accomplishment.

Not sure why you'd want a relationship with a bank that puts its own interest before yours, when you can save more, earn more, and get more free stuff from other financial institutions.

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Bitter much? LOL. I take it you had a bad experience with BOA?

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Not really, it's just common sense. If you can't see that, there's no helping you.

If you'd rather not do business with an institution that provides free checking, free checks, friendlier customer service (because you are the owner), higher savings rates, and who isn't constantly in the news for either breaking the law and not reaching their profit bottom line for the quarter, then  I would respect what you have to say much more than I do right now.

If you'd rather call me bitter for using the common sense approach, I'd rather you just ignore me, thank you.

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I see you have a Citi card in your signature.  Weren't they guilty of the same thing as BOA, as well as Chase, Wells Fargo etc.?

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I applied and recieved the card when I was 22 years old and didn't quite understand or care about finances. 

Completely different story now. 

Bank of America is also the worst of the worst. At least Citi offers overdraft free checking accounts, 2% cash back cards, airline cards, and doesn't try to steal your money as much as BofA does. Although Citi's customer service is also horrible because ti's outsourced. 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Late fee shouldn't matter for obvious reasons.  The other things aren't a big deal as it's designed for people to get their feet off the ground and not meant to be a long term card.

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Come to think of it most card's have a rather high late fee, regardless of whether they are secured or not. 

[SunriseEarth]

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[morgacj2004]

I IIB BofA yet they still gave me a secured card which they unsecured at 8 months and promptly refunded my deposit. The then gave me a 1k CLI.  The cash rewards is a decent product and I have no issues with Bof A other than I wish they were not so conservative.  I would suggest anyone rebuilding apply for BofA, DI or CITI secured they are the best products out there. I understand the OP anger with a lender as I share the same negative opinion of AX due to prior CLD and crappy customer service. However my personal experience should not necessarily affect what others do in their rebuilding process. 

[Vegas4Play]

Gets you in initially with the chance to graduate to an unsecured in the future.

[Anonymous]

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@morgacj2004 wrote:

I IIB BofA yet they still gave me a secured card which they unsecured at 8 months and promptly refunded my deposit. The then gave me a 1k CLI.  The cash rewards is a decent product and I have no issues with Bof A other than I wish they were not so conservative.  I would suggest anyone rebuilding apply for BofA, DI or CITI secured they are the best products out there. I understand the OP anger with a lender as I share the same negative opinion of AX due to prior CLD and crappy customer service. However my personal experience should not necessarily affect what others do in their rebuilding process. 

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I find Bank of America's cash rewards program rather lame. Their bonus cash back categories should be unlimited, not up to $2,500 a quarter. I understand why cards like the DiscoverIT or the Chase Freedom have a quarterly cap, but that's because it's 5% and the bank is  losing quite a bit of money off of the transaction, whereas Bank of America might not be making their usual profit, but at least they aren't taking a loss in those categories. 

If the best they can do is give you 2% cash back at the grocery store/warehouse clubs, 3% cash back on gas up to $416.50 a month for each category (split in half), and 1% on everything else, then why even bother offering a bonus category at all? It's a lame rewards program IMO. Just offer unlimited 2% cash back on dining, travel, and gas. However bank of America only looks out for their coporate bottom line, and not their customers, so it isn't surprising they're pinching pennies. I didn't realize it was that hard for the second biggest bank in America by assets to offer customers a choice of cards with a 2% cash back card, a premium hotel card, premium airline card, or a 5% rotating categories card. 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

Late fee shouldn't matter for obvious reasons.  The other things aren't a big deal as it's designed for people to get their feet off the ground and not meant to be a long term card.

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Come to think of it most card's have a rather high late fee, regardless of whether they are secured or not. 

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Late fees are capped at $25 for the first missed payment in a six month period. Bank of America is going to end up getting sued for having a $37 first time late fee on their secured credit card. I haven't even checked the terms for their other cards, but I know it's trouble waiting to happen. 

http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/feds-cap-credit-card-late-payment-fee-25.php

[Anonymous]

I'm pretty neutral on BofA. Their checking is more than fine, no fees, I can quickly transfer funds in and out, mobile deposit works. I now have their BBR, for $538.80 in spend per year, I earn $120 per year in rewards, that card is awesome FOR ME. I'm would apply for a second one of that pesky garden didn't have me locked in it.

Point is, there are tons of cards that work FOR ME, many that work for you. Just because we can't see value in what someone else likes or chooses, doesn't mean the value isn't there.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
I'm pretty neutral on BofA. Their checking is more than fine, no fees, I can quickly transfer funds in and out, mobile deposit works. I now have their BBR, for $538.80 in spend per year, I earn $120 per year in rewards, that card is awesome FOR ME. I'm would apply for a second one of that pesky garden didn't have me locked in it.

Point is, there are tons of cards that work FOR ME, many that work for you. Just because we can't see value in what someone else likes or chooses, doesn't mean the value isn't there.

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So what "value" is there to having a Bank of America account?

Pretty much every financial institution offers what Bank of America has, except with lower or no fees in each individual category, while their return rates are higher

Let us not forget this is the same bank that wanted to add a $5/month debit card fee.