BOA customers in Massachusetts shelling out more

Massachusetts residents who are customers of the leading US bank, Bank of America, are currently paying the highest banking fees for their accounts as compared to those in the rest of the country. As an example, Bank of America customers in this region who hold an ebanking account have to pay $12 each month if they intend to use the services of a teller or would like to get paper statements mailed to them each month. However customers, in others parts of the country, who opt for the same services would have to pay just $9.

The bank however maintains that this change in fee is just a temporary move. The bank has been testing checking accounts of a new kind since the start of 2011 in not just Massachusetts, but also Georgia and Arizona. When the bank rolled out these tests, it offered the assurance of standardizing all the accounts and fees for customers all over the country. Though it has been months since these tests began and this assurance was made, there seems to be no changes being made since the bank seems to have extended the testing period indefinitely, thus making customers in these three states pay more than their counterparts in other region of the United States. It is a general rule that banks increase the rates and offer the same products and services for their customers across the country.

Middleton’s Wayne J Panzner who is one among the 170,000 Bank of America customers’ in Massachusetts, has switched accounts to keep his fees to a minimum. He says that though he has been able to keep the maintenance charges at bay because of the direct debit he has for his salary, he is now plagued by many other fees. Speaking about the inequality meted out to account holders in Massachusetts, he said that it was ridiculous.

Anne Pace, the spokesperson for Bank of America, said that this test has affected only new customers in Massachusetts, Arizona and Georgia. She said that this move has affected only 5 percent of all the account holders in these states. These checking accounts have been designed to help the bank bring in more profits since the new regulations put a check on the revenue through traditional accounts.