Bank of AMERICA????

Another interesting page from snopes.com. Here is the original link.

Claim: Bank of America has been offering credit cards to customers lacking Social Security numbers.

Status: True.

Example: [Collected via e-mail, February 2007]

Bank of America is now giving credit cards to Illegal Aliens without any identification! They say that they want to get more of the Hispanic population to bank with them! What the hell is happening to this country? The next thing you know Illegal Aliens will be allowed to run for President! What part of 'ILLEGAL aliens' don't they understand? And why do we have to cater to them, especially when we have 'AMERICAN CITIZENS' who are in much more need of help then they do? This is an outrage!! END OF EMAIL


Today, Bank of America announced they will be opening accounts for illegal immigrants to boost their revenue.

Get this! The illegals don't have to have a social security number, etc. Although, the rates will be higher than those who have a social security number, I believe it sends a message of it's alright to be an illegal in this United States. I object and will be closing my checking account today. Enough is enough. They need to do the right thing and become legal. My grandparents came to this country legally in 1914 and honored the United States by becoming citizens.

If you have an account at the Bank of America and believe as I do close your account then pass this e-mail on. Hopefully our voices will be heard. We need to make a stand.

Origins: The 13 February 2007 disclosure that Bank of America, the largest retail banking chain in the U.S., has been quietly providing credit cards to customers who may not have Social Security numbers has made it the target of criticism. While Bank of America asserts that its pilot program (tested at five Southern California branches in 2006, recently expanded to 51 branches in Los Angeles County, but with the potential to go national later in 2007) is about meeting the needs of potential customers rather than politics, its critics regard the financial institution's act as a tacit endorsement of illegal
immigration.

The program is open to Bank of America customers who may lack both Social Security numbers and credit histories but who have maintained overdraft-free checking accounts with the financial giant for three months. While it is not strictly true that Bank of America is offering to establish credit for "illegal aliens," the difference may amount to hair-splitting as most U.S. adults who don't have Social Security numbers are illegal immigrants.

Bank of America asserts that its program complies with U.S. banking and anti-terrorism laws. Critics say such services will enable illegal immigrants to put down roots more easily in the U.S. and could provide them tax benefits to which they are not entitled.

These credit cards carry a 21.24% interest rate and require payment of an upfront fee. The Wall Street Journal reported on one immigrant who had sneaked into the U.S. a decade ago, had been a customer of Bank of America for nine years, and had no credit history or Social Security number. He paid a $99 fee to obtain a $500-limit Visa card, and provided he stays within his $500 credit limit and pays his balances in a timely fashion, he will receive his $99 security payment back in three to six months and will possibly see his credit limit increased as well.

Among the banking community, BofA is not alone in pursuing this segment of the potential customer base. In 2006, Wells Fargo began offering home mortgages in Los Angeles and Orange counties to immigrants who have lived in the U.S. for at least two years. These customers are allowed to identify themselves using their individual taxpayer identification numbers (ITIN) issued by the Internal Revenue Service instead of Social Security numbers. ITINs are the same type of identification number immigrants can use to obtain credit cards under Bank of America's pilot program.

Critics say that it's too easy for undocumented immigrants to receive ITINs. "At face value the program seems to be problematic," Russ Knocke, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security. "It seems to be lending itself to possibilities of perpetrating identity theft or creating more risk for money laundering."