Bank Of America: Services, Customer Complaints, And Digital Banking

About Bank of America

Write about the Customer Experience for Asset and Risk Management.

Bank of America is one the world’s largest financial institutions. Today, the bank is ranked as the 26^th largest company in the United Stated by assets and total revenue (Bank of America).  Noteworthy, it serves individual customers, large corporations, and small and middle-market businesses within the country (Bank of America).  The bank offers its clients a range of products comprising of banking, asset management, risk management, investing and other financial products and services (Bank of America).   Its competitive advantage is attributed to the fact that the bank offers an unmatched convenience to customer throughout America. At the moment, the company serves approximately 47 million small business and consumer relationships (Bank of America). In addition, it has approximately 16,000 ATMs and about 4,400 retail centers across the country. Furthermore, the bank has an award winning digital banking that serves around 36 million active subscribers (Bank of America).  It is also worth pointing out that the company is considered a world leader in corporate and investment banking, wealth management, and trading across a range of assets while serving governments, institutions, corporations and individuals all over the world.  Furthermore, the bank offers industry support to over 3 million small businesses through a range of innovative, easy to use online products and services.  Currently, the bank serves its clients through operations across the US, its territories and more than 35 countries (Company Profile).

It is imperative to point out that the Bank of America has been named as one of the top banks that receive customer complaints. For the past few years, the bank has been receiving customer complaints in the form of bad online reviews (Gongloff). According to a 2011 report, the bank had the worst track record of any bank, with complaints lodged against the bank being almost a quarter of all the complaints to the Consumer Protection Agency (Gongloff).  Mostly, these formal complaints lodged against the bank relate to poor customer service, how the bank services it mortgages, and bank fraud among others (Gongloff).

According to the 2017 Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) monthly complain report, many of the bank’s clients complained about its mortgage services. According to the report, customers encounter servicing problems when they are unable to pay their mortgages (CFPB). Specifically, they complained of receiving conflicting and confusing foreclosure notifications from the bank during the loss mitigation review process. In addition, they complained about prolonged loss mitigation review processes in which the same documentation was repeatedly requested by their servicer (CFPB). Further, the clients complained about confusion arising from loan transfers. As such, they claimed that the company did not properly communicate to them when their loan was transferred from one servicer to another. As a result, the payments they made to the previous servicer around the time of the transfer were not applied to their accounts (CFPB). What is more, they complained how the bank failed to properly communicate to the clients and were even unable to speak with their loan servicers.

Bank of America’s Services

Aside from complaints about mortgages, clients also complained about bank accounts and services. Specifically, some complained that they experienced difficulties in opening an account with the banks (CFPB). As such, these clients complained that they were made aware of negative reporting information for the first time when they opened a new deposit account. Others recorded that they faced challenges in addressing errors on their reports which then prevented them from opening an account with the bank (CFPB). What is more, some clients were not amused by the fact that the bank charged overdrafts on their accounts occurring due to confusion about the availability of funds they had deposited with the bank. Furthermore, clients complained about the bank’s check holding policies that led to the withholding of much needed funds over an extended period of time. In turn, this inconveniences clients (CFPB). Additionally, consumers voiced their frustrations about the bank’s error resolution process. According to clients, the error resolution process was prolonged, thereby inconveniencing its clients.

Moreover, clients banking with Bank of America lodged multiple complaints regarding their credit card services. Firstly, consumers complained about fraudulent credit card charges. Precisely, they complained about being billed for charges that they did not authorize from their accounts. They also voiced their frustrations over the fact that they experienced a great deal of difficulty in having these fraudulent charges removed from their accounts even after their card company resolved their disputes. Another serious complaint made by clients of Bank of America is that they were victims to identity theft. As such, many customers lodged complaints indicating that there were credit card accounts being opened in their name. Other clients complained about confusions over reward programs offered by the bank such as travel benefits, cash back programs, and bonus point programs. According to clients, the information posted on the company’s online website differed from what they were told by the company’s customer care representatives.

 Aside from complaints from clients, the employees of the Bank of America have also voiced their frustrations and complaints about working with the company. According to online reviews, most employees of the bank complain about the fact that the job is exhausting and employees are overworked. Mainly, this is due to the fact that most of the Bank’s branches are always understaffed. As a result, workers are forced to go an extra mile to serve the customers of the bank (Schoen). In turn, this is exhausting to the clients. In addition, employees complain of the lack of management appreciation and encouragement. As such, the management at the bank do not show appreciation for work well done by the members of staff. In turn, this reduces the morale and motivation of the workers at the bank.

Customer Complaints Against Bank of America

In addition, other employees voiced their concerns about poor working conditions at the bank. Specifically, they complained about having to stand for many hours straight while serving clients at the bank with little or no breaks. In the little time that they were able to get a break and relax, they would be interrupted and asked to continue with the job. Other employees complained of the fact that the bank managers are rigid individuals with no sympathy and regard or respect for their employee’s personal life. As such, these managers often refuse to accommodate any requests for time off work to attend to personal emergencies, illnesses, or other engagements. Consequently, this makes the life of the employees at the workplace to be miserable and uncomfortable. 

Moreover, other employees complained about the fact that the company lacks a work/life balance. Specifically, they were concerned that the management of the bank was only concerned about closings without taking into consideration the welfare of its employees (Bank of America Reviews). Also, the management does not listen to the concerns of its employees, and therefore do not address their problems and challenges.  Others raised their frustrations about the leadership of the bank being inconsiderate as they constantly make changes within the organization without making necessary preparations to allow the workers to adjust to the new plans (Bank of America Reviews).

It is imperative to note that the customer’s journey of banking has changed over the past few years following the invention of internet banking by banks. As a result, the various dimensions of the banking journey has transformed over time. In the traditional mode of banking, the awareness about the products offered by a bank were mainly sought for and learnt through consultations with people and books (Morgan). However, today the online banking has transformed the awareness of the banking services through an online presence. Thus an individual can obtain information about bank products through the web. In order to obtain the correct information about the bank’s products, the traditional journey involved visiting a bank. However, today, the individual can obtain all this information from the bank’s website (Matuszewska). As regards to obtaining advice on the bank products, one had to consult with a bank representative who would then explain the products to the client. Today, the online platform has removed the need to communicate with a representative as one can obtain banking advice through online interactions (Joyce). In the same way, the process of becoming a banks customer has changed and one does not need to physically walk into a bank facility for the sign up process. Nowadays, everything concerning the client’s details can be captured through online forms at the banks website and therefore registration is done online. As regards to transactions, the traditional journey involved going to the ATM. Contrariwise, the online platform has an internet banking option where money can be transferred from one person to another electronically through the bank’s applications. Sharing the banking experience in the traditional model involved engaging with people on a face to  face basis and explaining to them one’s experiences. This is not the case in the digital journey as one can share their experiences through online platforms in the form of reviews.

Mortgage Services Complaints

As noted earlier, customers highlighted various gaps in the banking services offered by the Bank of America. Thus, in order to solve these complaints, the bank must take an active role in implementing various changes within its structure. Firstly, to solve the issue on difficulties in opening accounts due to errors and lack of information on negative reporting, the bank should create an online Quesstion and Answer forum on its website explaining the importance of the information in the registration process, the information needed, how to fill in the information and ways to avoid such errors during registration. In turn, this would solve the issue of multiple errors arising during the registration process.

With respect to the challenges encountered during transfer of loans and mortgages between servicers, the bank can put in place a system that ensures both loan servicers communicate with the client. In this system, the outgoing servicer should inform the client the progress of the his or her loan, and the date of the transfer to the incoming servicer. In addition, the outgoing staff should introduce the new servicer to the client and ensure that they are both up to date with the details of the loan. Consequently, this move will go a long way in eliminating the problems of communication associated with the transfer of client’s service loans from one member of staff to another.

There are different types of customers that walk into the banking halls. With respect to the kind of attitude they portend, they can be classified as gentle, tough or short tempered (Four Types). By and large, it is much easier to communicate with a client who projects a calm and gentle attitude as one can easily explain to them the reasons behind the problems they are encountering and how long the correction process would take. On the other hand, it is a little bit difficult to deal with a tough and harsh client who is unsatisfied by the services offered at the bank. This kind of client often requires multiple reassurances that the problems raised will be sorted out as soon as possible. Of all the clients, a short tempered one is the hardest to handle and deal with. Mainly, this is because they always cause a scene at the banking hall and complain about the poor nature of the service provided.

Develop a chart

Complaint	Addressing complaint
Identity theft of credit card	Gentle	Calmly explain to the client the process that will be undertaken to solve the problem
Tough	Explain to the client how the  problem will be solved and  what duration it will take to solve the problem
Short tempered	Offer to transfer the case to the manager immediately in order to avoid confrontation with the client.
Difficulties in opening account	Gentle	Explain the procedure to the client on how to successfully fill in the registration forms.
Tough	Guide the client in filling the file and ensuring that they follow the procedure to avoid errors that may lead to confrontations.
Short temper	Personally help the client fill in the form to avoid agitating them in case they make errors in filling the forms of registrations.
Poor communication with loan servicers during loss mitigation review process	gentle	Assure the client that the problem will be solved as soon as possible.
Tough	Explain the source of confusion and help solve the problem with the client.
Short tempered	Offer to transfer the case to the current loan servicer to address the issues raised by the customer promptly

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