BoA accounts closed due to TOS violation regarding desposits

[iceman420]

When my card was declined I call in to see what happened...they sent me to the risk dept and the guy told me they made a business decision to no longer do business with me. I asked why and they said it was due to the violation of their ToS for acceptable deposits, as I had 4 (2 checking 2 savings) accounts receiving money from stealth paypal. The amount received were 500usd-2k. total received was around 7 grand over the last 60 days. I thought BOA was tolerable to this so just wanted to share this experience and give a heads up. I withdrew $3500 cash which probably set it off to the risk dept who looked into it. at least i wont have to wait 180 days to get my money ><

[GreenBean]

Approximately how much went into the savers accounts?

Seems there is such a fine line with these deposits.

[nickopedia]

Would largely depend on the amount(s), frequently, type of account (savings), and if these 3rd party deposits are the only source of funds on those accounts. I would also guess the age of those accounts might be a factor as well.

Be aware that by their vary nature savings accounts were not intended for many types of frequent transactions. Federal rules are strict in this area. Best to use a Checking account for larger and frequent transactions (especially outgoing). Refer to "Regulation D" §204.2(d)(2)

This is not the first time people have posted here having such problems. Maybe try opening business accounts with a different large bank (such as Wells Fargo) which seem to tolerate larger amounts on name mismatches for their business CHECKING accounts.

[rsot]

Were you draining the accounts repeatedly to zero OP? Any negative balances? I have had BoA since last year and have used it very nicely for high volumes, both PP and other business ventures. I leave a decent balance in savings at all times and I have good times with BoA.

Sad to hear about your experience. Business accounts are the standard way for high high volumes true.

[nickopedia]

I have a feeling the issue is more age of the accounts and the type of activity. Repeatedly draining the accounts as soon as money comes in (esp. on savings) may cause enough concern for the bank's risk dept.

[aspkin]

Originally Posted by iceman420

When my card was declined I call in to see what happened...they sent me to the risk dept and the guy told me they made a business decision to no longer do business with me. I asked why and they said it was due to the violation of their ToS for acceptable deposits, as I had 4 (2 checking 2 savings) accounts receiving money from stealth paypal. The amount received were 500usd-2k. total received was around 7 grand over the last 60 days. I thought BOA was tolerable to this so just wanted to share this experience and give a heads up. I withdrew $3500 cash which probably set it off to the risk dept who looked into it. at least i wont have to wait 180 days to get my money ><

That's probably what it was... withdrawing large funds within a short period of time from your account will get eye balls on you. And than they look deeper..

Was this a business checking account or just personal? How long have the accounts been open?

[rsot]

@iceman420, learn from this and build better relationship with future banks.

I leave decent amounts with BoA all the time - I have never made cash withdrawals (because of the fees involved crossborder etc.) but I write fat cheques all the time to move funds out - <3 old school cheques.

[GreenBean]

Wells Fargo can have issues with mismatched names. I just want this mentioned in a current thread.

There have also been users whose WF accounts were closed. The reasons were similar to the OP’s problems.

Making withdrawals and amounts need to be made paying careful attention to the internal bank security.

[nickopedia]

Banks need to comply with a litany of regulations by the FRB, OCC, FDIC, etc.

Reg. D violations come to mind. Could also be potential "risk" issues with the way funds are entering/existing your account(s).

Banks can be fined or get for certain types of FED/OCC violations and have a large Compliance Dept. that sees to it that they are meeting those rules. That said, some banks are more strict than others.

I would fathom in light of all the fairly recent Wells Fargo scandals with "⊗⊗⊗⊗" accounts and other "mischief" their peers are certain to take note and act accordingly.

Bottom line is to treat your bank accounts like gold because they are tied to your real identity. The last thing you need is to have a CHEX or EWS (Early Warning System) report on you for fraud. That potentially can make things unpleasant when it comes time to open an account at some other bank or Credit Union.

[phaz0rz]

I learned a lot when exactly this same thing happened to my BoA account like 3yrs ago. The best answer you'll get from BoA is that they saw you as "too high risk" and decided to close your account. I snuck a look at the bank manager's monitor when I was in there talking to them about the account closure and there was a big note saying "account closed - high risk" at the top of her page. I think that's all the information they're given at the local branch level.

I can say a few things for sure :
1) They consider all of your account activity, not just your withdrawals, when making the decision to close you account. Maintaining a very low average account balance even though you have hundreds of dollars coming in and going out will almost always kill a personal checking account. Banks leverage our savings to make money, so they don't like it when you're just moving money and not saving any. Avoiding ever going into a branch (e.g. only debit card withdrawals) also looks really bad.

2) A BoA account IS NOT closed instantly. The process takes several months. If you withdraw to your BoA accounts right now, they will hit your accounts as usual. But your debit card is disabled so you can only withdraw in person. I continued withdrawing to my BoA accounts for almost a year after they were officially "closed". Eventually a branch manager told me to stop sending in ACH's so they could complete my account closure.

3) This won't reflect badly on your Chex report (it won't show up at all) as long as you don't leave BoA with an outstanding balance.

[mantosiukas]

Please answer my messages on private chat

[iceman420]

Originally Posted by GreenBean

Approximately how much went into the savers accounts?

Seems there is such a fine line with these deposits.

about 1k-2k per transaction

Originally Posted by nickopedia

Would largely depend on the amount(s), frequently, type of account (savings), and if these 3rd party deposits are the only source of funds on those accounts. I would also guess the age of those accounts might be a factor as well.

Be aware that by their vary nature savings accounts were not intended for many types of frequent transactions. Federal rules are strict in this area. Best to use a Checking account for larger and frequent transactions (especially outgoing). Refer to "Regulation D" §204.2(d)(2)

This is not the first time people have posted here having such problems. Maybe try opening business accounts with a different large bank (such as Wells Fargo) which seem to tolerate larger amounts on name mismatches for their business CHECKING accounts.

account was about 1 year old

Originally Posted by rsot

Were you draining the accounts repeatedly to zero OP? Any negative balances? I have had BoA since last year and have used it very nicely for high volumes, both PP and other business ventures. I leave a decent balance in savings at all times and I have good times with BoA.

Sad to hear about your experience. Business accounts are the standard way for high high volumes true.

I was not repeatedly draining the accounts completely but I took about 1/2 out in cash one time after a few 2k deposits and always left a couple grand in there.

I would also use the account to make my purchases for items to resell

I guess I need to go business on it cause they were all personal

Originally Posted by aspkin

That's probably what it was... withdrawing large funds within a short period of time from your account will get eye balls on you. And than they look deeper..

Was this a business checking account or just personal? How long have the accounts been open?

personal accounts, open around 1 year

[iceman420]

Originally Posted by mantosiukas

Please answer my messages on private chat

I never received any msg's , whats up?

[nickopedia]

Out of curioustity, HOW MANY actual transactions were on the two SAVINGS accounts you had with BofA? Were these accounts receiving funds in mismatched names, then you transferring those funds to checking, or w/d it at the bank? If so, how many times?

Mainly interested in the savings activity as banks would be concerned about too many on those.

[iceman420]

Originally Posted by nickopedia

Out of curioustity, HOW MANY actual transactions were on the two SAVINGS accounts you had with BofA? Were these accounts receiving funds in mismatched names, then you transferring those funds to checking, or w/d it at the bank? If so, how many times?

Mainly interested in the savings activity as banks would be concerned about too many on those.

One deposit (as im trying to clear out money from about 30 pps that got limited in may) then I would transfer to checking.

All mismatched names

I had a total of 8 accounts with BoA over the last year and closed 4 of them recently as the other 4 still have some money in the PP, because I could only withdrawl 1000/mo on the remaining 4 cause they removed the VCC on 4 of them.

[nickopedia]

Most any bank (BofA included) have a very strict limit on the number of transactions (mostly EXIT funds) from a SAVINGS account. The FRB Regulation D limit is 6 (six) withdrawals in a calendar month. However each bank has their own actual limits which could be less than that for a given transaction type (Internal Xfer/ACH/Debit Card/Wire)

Usually BofA is good for stealth. I myself have used BofA and so have many others on this forum and had no problems with them. Maybe you have been using so many PayPal's with deposits coming in under so many different names they didn't like.

My advise is to spread out your accounts with several banks. Instead of 8 accounts at one bank, open a couple at 3 or 4 different banks. Wells Fargo, Citibank, Chase, and US Bank are known to work with mismatching names. Also consider local Credit Unions if you qualify. Using business accounts may also be a good way to stay under the radar too. Open the accounts in brick-and-morter branchs (NOT online) if you can.

[ebaystealth1974]

Originally Posted by nickopedia

Most any bank (BofA included) have a very strict limit on the number of transactions (mostly EXIT funds) from a SAVINGS account. The FRB Regulation D limit is 6 (six) withdrawals in a calendar month.

My BoA mobile app confirms this.

[phaz0rz]

^^Yeah, it's 6/month at all of the 4 banks I work with. Before 2017 it was limited by law to 3 per month, transfers or withdrawals.

If you were maintaining a decent average balance and never over-drafted or anything like that, I think the suspicious opening/closing of accounts is what did you in. There are very few legitimate reasons to have 8 open accounts at a bank. Even fewer legitimate excuses for opening and closing accounts at the same bank all the time. Aside from running stealth accounts, which nobody knows about, that activity can only be interpreted as some kind of fraud.

[nickopedia]

I assume the OP got all their money out of BofA before they gave him the boot.

Others were not so fortunate. I recall a guy a couple months ago on this forum that stated Chase was holding over $12k of his money that came in under mismatching names from PayPal. Chase demanded those "people" come in to confirm the funds were from them otherwise they would not let him withdrawal it.

I have not personally had any problems with Bank of America. I use them for stealth but using business accounts and have other activity aside from PP. Your overall transaction history is likely to be a factor when it comes to if any bank considers you risky or not.

[iceman420]

Originally Posted by nickopedia

I assume the OP got all their money out of BofA before they gave him the boot.

Others were not so fortunate. I recall a guy a couple months ago on this forum that stated Chase was holding over $12k of his money that came in under mismatching names from PayPal. Chase demanded those "people" come in to confirm the funds were from them otherwise they would not let him withdrawal it.

I have not personally had any problems with Bank of America. I use them for stealth but using business accounts and have other activity aside from PP. Your overall transaction history is likely to be a factor when it comes to if any bank considers you risky or not.

I got most of the funds out but theres about 2k they said they would mail me a cashiers check within a week for remainder of the funds. I was not aware of the limit of transactions per savings account. Thanks alot for future reference! Im trying with US bank and going to proceed with extreme caution!

[iceman420]

Originally Posted by phaz0rz

^^Yeah, it's 6/month at all of the 4 banks I work with. Before 2017 it was limited by law to 3 per month, transfers or withdrawals.

If you were maintaining a decent average balance and never over-drafted or anything like that, I think the suspicious opening/closing of accounts is what did you in. There are very few legitimate reasons to have 8 open accounts at a bank. Even fewer legitimate excuses for opening and closing accounts at the same bank all the time. Aside from running stealth accounts, which nobody knows about, that activity can only be interpreted as some kind of fraud.

Yes indeed I have learned from this and realized I was careless in the activity on this BoA account.

[nickopedia]

You weren't careless or doing something wrong in your mind. Really, who the hell knows of all these arcane Federal banking rules?

Banks have a hard enough time dealing with the FED and OCC red tape, and their compliance offices are full of lawyers that need to be on top of their game to keep the bank out of trouble. To add to this, there is also the usual KYC/AML (Know Your Customer/Anti-Money Laundring) rules they must follow. There is no room for error in this area.

if you only knew what goes on behind the scenes in a bank, you would understand how high stress a bank manager's life must be. When the hammer comes down, it can whack HARD.