Credit card or prepaid card -- Advertising and marketing, including promotional offers -- Complaint #4785051
Complaint Overview
Complaint ID: 4785051
Company: Bank Of America, National Association
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-Product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Advertising and marketing, including promotional offers
Sub-Issue: Confusing or misleading advertising about the credit card
State: Pennsylvania
ZIP Code: 18974
Date Received: 2021-10-06T12:00:00-05:00
Date Sent to Company: 2021-10-06T12:00:00-05:00
Company Response: Closed with monetary relief
Timely Response: No
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Submitted Via: Web
Consumer Narrative
Bank of America offered me a promotional balance transfer APR of 0 % until XX/XX/XXXX. In XX/XX/XXXX I took advantage of this promotion and transferred a balance on to my card. I called Bank of America and asked them how I could go about continuing to use the credit card for purchases, while avoiding paying interest on my bill. I was told that as long as I made a payment equal to the minimum payment plus any purchases I made, I would not be charged any interest. This is also reflected on the statement in the section " Important Information About This Account '' : HOW WE ALLOCATE YOUR PAYMENTS- Payments are allocated to posted balances. If your account has balances with different APRs, we will allocate the amount of your payment equal to the Total Minimum Payment Due to the lowest APR balances first ( including transactions made after this statement ). Payment amounts in excess of your Total Minimum Payment Due will be applied to balances with higher APRs before balances with lower APRs. Based on this information, I made a payment on XX/XX/XXXX of {$980.00}. This includes a minimum payment of {$47.00}, plus {$930.00} in purchases, plus {$6.00} in previous interest. Based on what the statement said, {$47.00} of my payment would be applied to the Balance Transfer balance as it has the lower APR, while the rest would be applied to the purchase balance as it has the higher APR. When I received my statement on XX/XX/XXXX, I was indeed charged interest on purchases I had made, in contradiction to what both the statement says and what I was told over the phone. When I called to speak with Bank of America about this, I was told that this is how they handle credit card interest when people have a promotional APR. Purchases will start accruing interest immediately, even if the full purchase amount is paid by the due date. This means that while they may not be charging me interest on the balance transfer, they are instead now charging me interest on purchases they would not normally have charged interest on. Every credit card I've ever had charges no interest on purchases that are on the statement as long as a payment equal to those purchases is made before the statement 's due date. Bank of America apparently changes this policy when a customer takes advantage of a promotional APR they offer.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Complaint #4785051 about?
Complaint #4785051 was filed against Bank Of America, National Association regarding Credit card or prepaid card specifically about Advertising and marketing, including promotional offers. It was received by the CFPB on 2021-10-06T12:00:00-05:00.
How did Bank Of America, National Association respond to this complaint?
The company responded with: "Closed with monetary relief". The response was not timely.
What is the risk level of this complaint?
See the risk assessment section for details on this complaint's risk profile.
How do I file a similar complaint?
You can file a complaint with the CFPB at consumerfinance.gov/complaint. Select the appropriate product category (Credit card or prepaid card) and describe your issue in detail.
Can I see other complaints against Bank Of America, National Association?
Yes, visit the Bank Of America, National Association company profile at readthecomplaint.com/company/bank-of-america-national-association to see all complaints, risk scores, and analysis.
Disclaimer
This analysis is AI-generated based on publicly available CFPB complaint data. It does not constitute financial or legal advice.