Vision Credit Education, Inc.

One of Bank of America’s better known commercials indicated how quickly a transaction posted to your online banking console. One source of angst for many unsuspecting customers was that many bill payments did not reflect on the “Account Activity” summary even though these were reflected in the “Outgoing Payments” section of online “Bill Pay” for the same day. 

This removes one potential source of confusion that likely led to overdrafts from customers who thought their account balance was as high as what was posted in “Account Activity.” Now all transactions appear on that page.

Prior to May 2010, Bank of America would omit any pending or completed scheduled bill payments for the current day from the “Account Activity” listings. This resulted in an overstated account balance.

As anyone knows, when your actual account balance is lower than what you believe it is, you run a higher risk of over-drafting your account. Such a discrepancy in account balances has likely resulted in millions of dollars in overdraft fees over the years.

This change to Bank of America’s online account management console aids transparency and improves accuracy of account information. A better informed customer is better able to plan future payments and ensure they will have enough money in their account.

While Bank of America has finally embraced full transparency of their online banking, other major financial institutions have not. Since regulatory interference is unlikely, it will be up to the competitive market to put pressure on those banks that still do not provide a true balance to their customer.

Indeed, the entire Bank of America online banking experience is much improved. Users now have direct access to all linked accounts, including checking, savings, money market, credit cards and even investment accounts through Banc of America. Having access to all accounts facilitates payments and moving money around. It still takes a day to transfer funds from checking to investment banking, but I imagine this barrier will soon fall as well.