Accounts revamped – Bank of America customers to pay more

The checking accounts have been revamped and Bank of America customers will have to shell out more by way of fees and other banking charges unless they bring about some changes in their banking habits. One way to avoid the high fees would be to avoid the tellers for routine banking transactions, maintaining a higher minimum balance etc.

Some of the nation’s largest banks will begin phasing out the traditional checking accounts by August and around 530,000 customers from three states would be moved to other new accounts. These include 170,000 from Massachusetts as well. It has plans to move out all of the checking accounts customers throughout the nation by the end of 2012, to new offerings. It includes over 2 million from Massachusetts.

In order to avail free checking, customers will have to maintain higher balances as well as other conditions, in the new accounts. Earlier on, there were some customers who had qualified for the no-fee checking accounts under the previous system but they may not do so now. For example, the MyAccess checking account which is very popular is an account where customers could avoid the monthly fee of $8.95 provided they make direct deposits every month or maintain an average balance of about $1,500. But that will not be possible once the accounts are revamped.

Now, there is a new account known as Enhanced checking where customers are required to make a deposit of about $2,000 per month, use the credit card once a month at least, or maintain a minimum of $5,000 in different accounts, in order to avoid a monthly fee of $15. Added to this, the bank would also offers customers another eBanking account where they will be able to avoid the monthly fee of $12 provided they sign up for online statements and do their withdrawals and deposits either through ATMs or using the online facility.

However, Bank of America has stated that customers will have a number of ways where they can avoid fees in these new accounts rather than the old ones. But, they have declined to comment on how many of their checking accounts customers are currently paying the service charges to the banks or how these numbers are bound to change under the revamped accounts. Don Vecchiarello who is the bank spokesman has stated that there may be some customers who might actually end up paying more, while the rest of them pay less.