As one of many largest monetary establishments in the USA, Financial institution of America has lots to supply. The vary of private and enterprise account choices is spectacular, and the provision of financial institution branches makes it extraordinarily handy.
BofA has had its share of controversies and its sheer dimension can generally make service inconsistent. In 2014, it was fined $16.65 billion for its position within the 2008 monetary disaster. Moreover, among the accounts are a bit missing in options.
In 2021, quite a lot of banks and fintech platforms eradicated overdraft charges however Financial institution of America has not joined them utterly, although some accounts have this function. If this can be a service you want or need, BofA is probably not the only option for you. We’ve received some useful suggestions, although, on how one can hold from overdrawing your accounts.
All that stated, is Financial institution of America the fitting place so that you can do your banking? Our deeper dive on what the financial institution provides will enable you to determine.
This Financial institution of America overview seems to be on the financial institution’s checking and financial savings options for people and small companies, in addition to its total comfort and cellular banking options. Notice that Financial institution of America’s bank cards and lending merchandise are usually not included on this overview.
Checking Accounts
Financial institution of America provides three checking accounts, every with its personal attributes.
Benefit SafeBalance Checking
Finest for Prospects with Easy Wants
Key Options
- Low opening steadiness required
- A number of methods to waive the month-to-month price
- No overdraft charges
You may open Financial institution of America’s most elementary checking account, Benefit SafeBalance Checking, with a fairly commonplace $25 minimal opening deposit.
Benefit SafeBalance Checking
Month-to-month price
$4.95 monthly, however could be waived
Curiosity
None
Minimal steadiness
None
ATM charges
None at Financial institution of America ATMs.
The AdvantageSafe Steadiness Checking account comes with $4.95 in month-to-month charges. Financial institution of America will waive this price if you happen to can test one of many following packing containers:
- You enroll within the Most popular Rewards program. To qualify as a Financial institution of America Most popular Rewards shopper, you want a three-month mixed common of $20,000 in your Financial institution of America and Merrill Edge/Merrill Lynch accounts. That may be a tall order for lots of consumers.
- You’re underneath 24 years outdated and in class.
Two Extra Checking Accounts
The subsequent step up in BofA’s checking account choices is Advantage Plus Checking. It comes with $12 in month-to-month charges, nevertheless it additionally has a pair extra methods to keep away from it. In addition to enrolling in Most popular Rewards or qualifying as a scholar, you possibly can keep away from the month-to-month price if you happen to:
- Have at the least one qualifying direct deposit of $250 or extra, OR
- Preserve a $1,500 minimal every day steadiness.
Even part-time workers are more likely to make a direct deposit of at the least $250, so the price shouldn’t be a significant nuisance. Sadly, neither the AdvantageSafe Steadiness Checking account nor the Benefit Plus checking account provides curiosity in your cash.
To earn curiosity with a Financial institution of America checking account, it’s good to bump as much as the Advantage Relationship checking account. This account provides 0.03% APY in your cash, which is beneath the national average for curiosity checking accounts. You will get that elevated if you happen to be part of the Most popular Rewards program.
Benefit Relationship financial institution accounts have a hefty $25 in month-to-month charges hooked up, however it may be waived with a mixed steadiness of at the least $10,000 in eligible linked accounts.
Financial institution of America’s overdraft price is $35 with as many as 4 doable per day. A further $35 will get tacked on after 5 days of a steady adverse steadiness.
The overdraft safety choice will cowl overdrafts by withdrawing cash out of your financial savings account, however there’s a major $10 per transaction price. You’ll solely be charged $10 as soon as per day.
Financial savings Accounts
Financial institution of America’s primary financial savings account is an efficient newbie account and you’ll bump as much as one other stage to obtain extra perks. There may be additionally a financial savings account for minors.
Benefit Financial savings Account
Finest for Prospects Opening First Financial savings Account
Key Options
- Low opening deposit
- No minimal every day steadiness
- Money again offers
You received’t make any nice features in your cash by the use of curiosity with the Financial institution of America Benefit Financial savings account. You’ll earn simply 0.03% APY, properly beneath the nationwide common for financial savings accounts. The one option to earn extra is to develop into a Most popular Rewards member.
Benefit Financial savings Account
Opening deposit
$100
Curiosity
0.03% APY
Minimal every day steadiness
None however service price is waived if $500 is maintained
Financial institution of America’s primary financial savings account has a $100 minimal opening deposit. There’s additionally an $8 month-to-month price that’s waived if:
- You preserve a minimal every day steadiness of $500.
- You’re a Most popular Rewards Member.
- You hyperlink your financial savings account to your Financial institution of America Benefit Relationship Banking account (waiver applies to first 4 financial savings accounts).
Extra About Financial savings
In the event you’re seeking to open a savings account for a minor, you’re in luck. BofA has a Minor Financial savings account. It solely requires a $25 opening deposit, however there isn’t any minimal steadiness requirement after that and no month-to-month upkeep price. The rates of interest are the identical as for the Financial institution of America Benefit Financial savings account (0.03%), making it an ideal starter account to assist get kids within the behavior of saving.
Different Financial institution of America Options
Due to its dimension — it has greater than 200,000 workers and annual income in extra of $85 billion — Financial institution of America has many extra options than smaller monetary establishments. Listed below are some that we expect you’d need to learn about:
Hold the Change
We just like the Hold the Change program. In the event you decide in to this function, your debit card purchases will robotically be rounded up, and the leftover change is deposited into your Financial institution of America financial savings account. It’s a easy approach so as to add to your financial savings with out having to consider it, and the cash can add up rapidly.
Certificates of Deposit
In the event you’re on the lookout for a certificates of deposit, you can begin out with a minimal of $1,000. You can too select your time period from as little as 28 days as much as 10 years. CD charges differ from 0.03% to 1% relying on the size of your time period.
Small Enterprise Banking
Financial institution of America has a devoted web site only for small business banking. The location makes it straightforward to trace your account and hold up to the mark. That stated, there are some shortcomings to its providers.
The Enterprise Fundamentals Checking account isn’t interest-bearing and doesn’t listing a minimal opening deposit quantity. Nevertheless, there’s a $17 month-to-month service price. This may be waived if you happen to:
- Spend $250 in web new purchases on a enterprise debit or bank card.
- Preserve a mean month-to-month steadiness of $5,000 or extra.
- Preserve a minimal every day steadiness of $3,000.
- Preserve a mixed common month-to-month steadiness of $15,000 or extra in your linked Financial institution of America accounts.
- Qualify and enroll within the Most popular Rewards for Enterprise program (waiver applies on as much as 4 eligible enterprise checking accounts.)
You’ll get 200 free transactions per billing cycle and $7,500 price of free money deposits.
Financial institution of America’s next-level account for small enterprise checking known as the Enterprise Benefit Checking. This account comes with a $29.95 month-to-month price. To get this waived, it’s good to:
- Spend $2,500 in web new purchases on a enterprise bank card.
- Preserve a mean month-to-month steadiness of $15,000 or extra.
- Preserve a mixed common month-to-month steadiness in your linked Financial institution of America accounts of at the least $35,000.
- Actively use one or each of those enterprise providers: Financial institution of America Service provider Companies or Payroll Companies.
- Qualify for and enroll within the Most popular Rewards for Enterprise program (first 4 checking accounts per enrolled enterprise)
This account comes with 500 free transactions and no charges for the primary $20,000 of money deposits. As you possibly can see, the Enterprise Benefit Checking is designed for companies with a little bit heavier money circulate.
Comfort
BofA has 4,270 financial institution areas. That quantity has been lowering lately, although. It’s not exhausting to discover a BofA ATM both as there are 15,900 in existence, although that quantity is lower than half what is on the market for most of the nation’s rising on-line banks.
As you’ll anticipate, Financial institution of America provides many modern-day banking conveniences like a telephone app, on-line banking, and cellular deposits. It’s straightforward to neglect simply how highly effective these options are till you need to go with out them — notably cellular deposits. Since paper checks are getting used much less and fewer today, having to go to the financial institution to deposit one is a nuisance. Cellular deposit spares you that inconvenience.
As with most larger banks, you are able to do much more than simply checking and financial savings with Financial institution of America. You will get a mortgage, automotive mortgage, bank cards and even some funding accounts linked with Merrill Lynch. They also have a Higher Cash Habits internet web page that gives monetary wellness suggestions for shoppers.
The comfort is without doubt one of the finest elements of Financial institution of America, and one of many large causes it will get picked over opponents. It’s all over the place, and provides practically every little thing, so that you don’t want to fret about sustaining accounts at a number of banks. That stated, with the comparatively poor rates of interest on financial savings accounts, it’s possible you’ll need to.
Cellular Banking
The BofA cellular banking app will get rave critiques. With a 4.8 out of 5 rating within the Apple App Retailer and 4.6 of 5 within the Google Play Retailer, it doesn’t get a lot better.
Customers touch upon its ease of use, in addition to options like cash transfers, cellular alerts for low funds, and the flexibility to deactivate a misplaced or stolen card. Its fingerprint and face recognition options make it straightforward to log in and hold your account protected, as properly.
Have you ever ever had your card declined since you are touring? Financial institution of America’s telephone app has a function that you could activate that can examine the placement of your telephone to the place the transaction takes place. In case your telephone is close by, they’ll assume it’s you and approve the transaction. That’s fairly slick and will save an unlimited quantity of problem (except the criminal steals your telephone and your card).
In the event you prefer to really feel a private connection to your banking app, you possibly can even faucet into Erica, BofA’s digital assistant to stroll you thru your banking duties. It’s not essentially the most inventive identify for a digital assistant, however she will get the job finished.
Try our present listing of financial institution promotions for an opportunity to achieve a financial bonus when signing up for a brand new checking account.
Financial institution of America Evaluate: The Professionals and Cons
We’ve rounded up professionals and cons for one of many nation’s largest banks.
Professionals
- The Hold the Change function permits you to add to your financial savings with out eager about it as a result of it rounds up every debit card transaction and deposits the grow to be your financial savings account.
- BoA’s cellular app is simple to make use of with some fairly superior options you don’t discover with a whole lot of banks, similar to the flexibility to approve transactions so long as your telephone is close by.
- There are practically 16,000 ATMS and greater than 4,000 brick-and-mortar branches.
- Between the plentiful bodily areas, stable cellular app, and the commonly nice Financial institution of America customer support, it’s straightforward to financial institution with BoA.
- Though quite a lot of BoA accounts include month-to-month charges, there are usually a number of methods to keep away from them, similar to by conserving a sure minimal steadiness.
Cons
- The usual overdraft charges are $35 with 4 doable per day. A further $35 will get tacked on after 5 days of steady adverse steadiness. Overdraft safety comes with a $10 transaction price.
- The APY charges for checking and financial savings accounts are properly underneath common.
- There’s an $8 month-to-month price for financial savings accounts that don’t hold a minimal steadiness of $500.
Incessantly Requested Questions (FAQs) About Financial institution of America
Listed below are the solutions to among the most incessantly requested questions on Financial institution of America, together with a dialogue of its status.
Is Financial institution of America a Good Financial institution?
Financial institution of America is a wonderful financial institution if you happen to worth handy department areas and conserving all of your cash underneath one roof. It provides a variety of checking account and financial savings account choices, stable small enterprise financial institution accounts, and a stronger buyer expertise than many different banks.
What’s the Fame of Financial institution of America?
Financial institution of America has a decidedly common status. Because it’s a big nationwide financial institution, it’s doable to have an impressive expertise at one department and a horrible expertise at one other simply up the street. You might not get the identical stage of direct care that you simply’d discover at a smaller establishment, however the sheer availability could make up for it.
Is Financial institution of America Higher than Chase?
That basically is determined by what you want out of your financial institution. They’re each a part of the Massive 4: Financial institution of America, Chase, Wells Fargo, and Citigroup. As such, they every supply all kinds of merchandise, from checking and financial savings accounts to small enterprise instruments. To decide on between the 2, decide precisely what you want out of your financial institution after which examine choices. You might even need to combine and match, with checking accounts at one and financial savings on the different.
Why is Financial institution of America the Finest Financial institution?
If we have been to call Financial institution of America the most effective financial institution, it might be for comfort. Between the big variety of bodily areas, the big selection of financial institution accounts and merchandise, and the sheer variety of other ways to entry these accounts and waive the varied charges concerned all add as much as make BoA a improbable choice in comparison with different banks.
Is Financial institution of America FDIC Insured?
Sure. All financial institution of America accounts are FDIC insured. Protection is obtainable for as much as $250,000 per depositor, per insured financial institution, for every account. This covers checking accounts, financial savings accounts, cash market financial savings accounts, and CDs — primarily all the private finance choices.
Does Financial institution of America Supply Loans?
Does Financial institution of America Supply Loans?
Financial institution of America provides many sorts of loans: auto loans, mortgages, small enterprise loans, and a single private finance mortgage choice known as Steadiness Help. Steadiness Help is the one private mortgage choice and is capped at $500, so if you happen to want a bigger private mortgage, you’ll must look elsewhere.
PNW contributor Dave Schafer has been writing professionally for practically a decade, masking matters starting from private finance to software program and client tech. Data from former contributor Tyler Omoth is included on this report.