Link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070213/us_nm/bofa_card_dc_1 BofA aims new credit card at illegal immigrants: report Tue Feb 13, 2007 12:35am ET NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp. has begun offering credit cards to customers without Social Security numbers, typically illegal immigrants, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. In recent years, banks across the country have been offering checking accounts and even mortgages to the nation's fast-growing ranks of undocumented immigrants, most of whom are Hispanic, the paper said, adding these immigrants generally have not been able to get major credit cards. The new Bank of America card is open to people who lack both a Social Security number and a credit history, as long as they have held a checking account with the bank for three months without an overdraft, the Journal said. Bank of America tested the program last year at five branches in Los Angeles, and last week expanded it to 51 branches in Los Angeles County, home to the largest concentration of illegal immigrants in the U.S., the Journal said. The bank hopes to roll out the program nationally later this year, the paper said. A Bank of America spokesman was not immediately available to comment.
seems like we discussed this already... maybe it was on home loans. if these banks wish to take the risk of loaning illegals money, i say let them do it. it'll be their own downfall. of course it'll probably cost people their jobs, and stockholders tons of money if even more credit debt isn't repaid. anybody think we'll see a boycott on bank of america over this?
Hmm I bank with BOA... I hope this won't affect I don't see too much profit on that as opposed to the danger of losing money
i have been banking w/ boa for almost 15 years (since it was nations bank), and i will be closing my checking and saving accounts this week and going to compass. aside from the fact that they are aiding illegal immigrants, they are also putting MY money at risk by giving credit to them. furthermore, illegals dont even need a s.s. card to open an acount. LEGAL citizens must provide s.s. card and two valid forms of id. i find this double standard to be a slap in the face to their LEGAL customers. if they want to give illegals special privledges more power to them, but i dont want anything to do with it.
No, LEGAL customers can also choose to open an account without providing a SS#. They didn't specify illegal vs. legal, just SS# vs non-SS#. And I'm willing to bet that these non-SS# accounts probably aren't given "special priviledges" of any kind, and probably a lot LESS priviledges The fact that they've tested it and found positive results lends me to believe that this may not be as bad an idea as people think. This is also the same company every scoffed at when they invented the bank card. But if you don't agree, I agree that you're more than entitled to move your account to wherever you please. This is a very risky move by BofA in the sense that the politics of it alone might lose them a lot of loyal customers.
Uhh, right. It's not like they don't account for risk in their decision-making. They only give them to people who already have bank accounts and have been financially responsible with them. This is a great thing if you're concerned about security and having a bunch of untrackable people in the country. This puts them on the map and makes people trackable. Plus, it reduces the underground cash economy.
Why? All these banks already provide bank accounts and mortgages. Is a credit card really any worse? There will be a backlash and people moving their accounts for a few weeks and then all will be back to normal. And BoA will gain a ton of new customers until all the other banks follow suit, just as they have with accounts and mortgages.
giving a credit card to people who are here illegally puts its legal customers at risk on several levels. first of all, there is a basic problem in giving credit to people who have broken the law. why should illegal immigrants be trusted w/ a credit card? they committed a crime (under u.s. law) by entering our country and now the nations largest bank is going to help them out (aiding and abetting). not requiring id makes identity theft and fraud a whole lot easier. it also increases the risk of people who will default on their debts - its alot easier for undocumented persons to avoid getting caught up in the system. and then who do you think ends up having to pay for that? furthermore, i am resentful of the fact that my bank is willing to bend over backwards for illegals. i am a legal resident and i got no such special treatment. they made me show my s.s. card and 2 forms of picture id. if thats how its going to be than the hell with them.
not really but i'll bet boa is more knowledgeable about risks and hedging them than you are. and i have gotten a traffic violation in the past. so i broke the law. should i not get a bank account either? it also negates the need to have a fake ss# since you don't need it hence reducing the risk of identity theft. [/quote]furthermore, i am resentful of the fact that my bank is willing to bend over backwards for illegals. i am a legal resident and i got no such special treatment. they made me show my s.s. card and 2 forms of picture id. if thats how its going to be than the hell with them.[/QUOTE] oh no. you had to show id. poor you. if only you had 'special treatment' and didn't have to show id? im sick of people b!tching for no reason. christ.
You obviously know very little about the immigration process that people have to go through to do things the LEGAL way. If you ever had to do it or have known someone that has, it would piss you the **** off if tons of people skirted the system and had little to no recourse.
This is not quite true. There are a lot of foreign visitors in the US who are here legally, are not eligible for social security numbers, and have a need for credit cards and banking services. These people include students and visiting scholars on F or J visas, business and pleasure visitors on long term B visas (up to 6 months with additional 6 months extension possible), spouses of foreigners working in the US, etc. I know that for a lot of these people, especially the foreign students and visiting scholars who are often here for several years at a time, this is a huge inconvenience, and it's also a huge missed business opportunity for banks. IMHO, to only mention illegal immigrants as intended customers is dishonest and sensationalistic.
Let's see them. How does this affect legal customers? Where did you get the idea that they don't need ID? They have to have ID to get the bank account that they have to have for months before getting a credit card. As for who pays for the defaults, it's the other illegal immigrants who get the higher interest rate credit cards to account for the risk. It doesn't affect you at all. If Bank of America was losing money in total by serving illegal immigrants, they wouldn't do it. Bend over backward? You can get the same treatment as them if you'd like, and you'll get the super-high interest rate mortgages and credit cards. Or you can show your ID and get better rates and have fewer restrictions on your cards. Your choice. But in no way do they have options that you don't have. So again, how exactly does it hurt you as a customer?
not really. just because i had to go thru X doesn't mean i want other people to deal with long delays and unnecessary paperwork. not that it matters. im not advocating illegal immigration. im saying for boa to offer this probably makes a lot of financial sense. it makes sense from a human rights perspective that people who are living here working here paying taxes raising kids irregardless of their immigration status should be able to live with dignity and some semblance of financial normalcy. if anything your whole notion that people who are here illegally have no problems highlights your lack of knowledge about the subject.
What hasn't been discussed is how it makes this easier for fraud and organized crime. Or are there already common methods that makes this a non-issue?
So because they're here illegally, they deserve the benefit of credit? How does that make any sense? If we're going to give them privileges based on the fact that they're here what's the point of even having immigration laws at all, then? Many of us who do happen to know people that have had to go through the whole immigration process are, in fact, upset about all of this. Also, the number of problems they have to deal with diminishes every day. Eventually, there's going to be no point of coming here legally.
My parents went through the process and even became naturalized citizens, back when the test actually required being able to read and write in English. When they see things like this, they aren't upset. It just sounds so immature. "That's not FAIR. I went through all this crap. Now you have to, too!" Bottomline, why do you care? It's not affecting you* personally, and continuing to refuse illegals credit isn't going to make them go back to where they came from. *no one specific
yeah cause three months without an overdraft is good reason to give them credit cards. and as far as the traceability goes, it's only as good as the enforcement it receives. great we know who and where the illegals are, so do they get deported? highly doubtful
It's more than most Americans need. Again, so what? How does this hurt anyone? It's seems like people here just want other people to have to live a worse life out of spite. If it makes you feel better, a US corporation is making a huge profit off of illegal people. You should be thrilled its bringing those evil illegal alien's money back into American hands.
it takes jobs away from americans, that's how it hurts people. go ask some truckers what they did before they started driving. you'll find a high percentage of them that were in construction before wages got slashed to an unlivable amount. take some pride in our country.
