Bank of America Bank Review
About the Bank
Bank of America leads the ranks of the nation’s largest banks, serving individuals, large and small businesses, wealth management clients, and institutions.
Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the bank serves approximately 46 million consumers in all 50 states.
Bank of America offers a full suite of consumer banking products and services, including checking accounts, savings accounts, certificates of deposit, individual retirement accounts, credit cards, auto loans, home loans, and investing with Merrill Edge.
That lengthy list makes it easy to do all your banking and plan for your financial goals in one place.
Bank of America Checking Accounts
There are three checking account options, depending on what you need.
The Bank of America Advantage SafeBalance account is a basic account with no check-writing or overdraft fees. It is most appropriate for those who conduct most of their finances and transactions digitally.
The Bank of America Advantage Plus is a basic checking account. This account does have a monthly maintenance fee, but Bank of America gives you several ways to get around it. The fee is waived automatically for students under the age of 24.
The premium option is the Advantage Relationship account. This one has a higher monthly maintenance fee, but your checking balance earns interest. Rates are comparable to what other traditional banks offer for interest checking. This top-tier checking account waives monthly fees on additional checking and savings accounts and select services.
Savings Account
If you’re more interested in saving than spending, open a Bank of America Advantage Savings account with as little as $100.
This account does have a monthly maintenance fee. Still, you can avoid it by maintaining a $500 minimum daily balance, linking your Advantage Relationship account to your savings, or becoming a Preferred Rewards client.
This will also get you a higher savings rate based on your membership tier. In general, though, you can get higher rates on savings when you choose an online bank instead.
Rewards Program
The Preferred Rewards program offers three benefits based on the combined balances in your Bank of America bank accounts and your Merrill Edge or Merrill Lynch trading accounts.
Gold tier clients, for example, get a 5% interest rate boost on savings accounts and a 25% rewards bonus on eligible Bank of America credit cards.
At the highest tier, Platinum Honors Preferred Rewards clients get a 20% interest rate boost on savings, a 75% credit card rewards bonus, unlimited no-fee transactions at non-Bank of America ATMs $0 stock and ETF trades with Merrill Edge.
Convenient Locations
Bank of America has a fairly large ATM network, almost 16,000 locations nationwide. The Bank of America Mobile App is another convenient way to access and manage your money.
With generous daily and monthly deposit limits, you can deposit checks from your mobile device with the snap of a button.
The highest mobile check deposit limits are reserved for Preferred Rewards clients. As an added plus, you can use the app to send money to friends and family, regardless of where they bank, with Zelle.
Bank Account Reviews
- Bank of America Savings Account Review
- Bank of America Checking Account Review
- Bank of America CD Account Rates Review
Bank of America Credit Card Reviews
Bank Fees
| Fees | National Average | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly Inactivity | N/A | $6 |
| Non-Sufficient Fund (Overdraft) | $35 | $30 |
| Stop Payment item | $30 | $27 |
| Domestic Wire Transfer (Outbound) | $25 | $22 |
| Domestic Wire Transfer (Inbound) | $15 | $10 |
| Non-Bank ATM | $2.50 | $1 |
