BofA Aims New Credit Card at Illegal Immigrants: Report

Reuters News Service ^ | Feb 13, 2007 | staff

[kellynla]

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.

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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.

[kellynla]

Bank of America? Try Bank of Illegals!

[kellynla]

Ping!

[From One - Many]

Why would I not be surprised if these credit cards were being insured by 'we' taxpayers, courtesy of our congress?
I don't know this to be fact, but I wouldn't be surprised.

[PissAndVinegar]

Posted:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1783943/posts

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1783883/posts

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1783824/posts

[kellynla]

well I did a search and nothing came up
delete it if it bothers you
personally, the more folks see this the better

[theBuckwheat]

Are we headed for two-track banking. I appears to be so.

For people who can identify themselves, the bank insists they must provide their SSN, a copy of a ID document like a driver's license, and other information. The bank must do this in the post-9/11 legal environment that is commonly called KYC or Know Your Customer. There are federal sanctions and fines for banks that do not enforce KYC

For people who obviously are not here legally, and maybe cannot speak English, the bank allows them to open an account with what? Their name and address? Or just a name if they claim they are homeless.

How does the bank comply with KYC regulations for this second group of customers? Is this exempted with a wink and a nod?

One reason for enforcing KYC regs is so the IRS and other government agencies can easily locate your assets so they can enforce compliance and ease collection efforts.

I guess as a trial, I might call my local B of A branch and see if I could open up an Illegal Alien account without a SSN.

[Jay Howard Smith]

[period end of story]

BofA.

Leave home without it: we'll make more.

[xcamel]

see:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1783943/posts

[greyfoxx39]

I have BOA accounts, and they have really gone downhill since the merger with MBNA.

[Experiment 6-2-6]

I, too, would like to see how this gets past the Patriot Act and the issue of money laundering...

[kellynla]

"I guess as a trial, I might call my local B of A branch and see if I could open up an Illegal Alien account without a SSN."


Of course you can.

And the dirty little secret is that BofA is not the only bank in Cali doing this. Wells Fargo is another.
Illegals are also obtaining home loans in CA. Two or more families apply together for one home loan.
It is not unusual to find three or more families living in one home.
Illegals have been also obtaining home mortgages for some time now.

[Thunder90]

Soon, all credit card companies will be FORCED by the Dhimmies to give credit cards to illegal immigrants.

[highball]

Why would I not be surprised if these credit cards were being insured by 'we' taxpayers, courtesy of our congress?
I don't know this to be fact, but I wouldn't be surprised.

Must be.

I was wondering why any for-profit institution, with shareholders to which it must answer, would do something so stupid. No credit history? No way to track cardholders and no way of holding them accountable? What halfway rational bank would extend them credit?

Your answer makes sense.

[From One - Many]

This is happening in other parts of the nation as well, of that I do know. Guess who is on the hook for the loans?

[From One - Many]

my post above was to your #12 concerning home loans and BoA isn't the only bank doing this.....

[RockinRight]

There needs to be a way to prosecute companies that do this.

[RockinRight]

Well, that makes my job search easier. I am working with a few mortgage companies in the MD/DC area for a job and Wells was one of them. I can cross them off the list.

[Thunder90]

This is a new way for criminals to bank. If they don't have to show ID, a criminal can claim that he/she is illegal (if they speak Spanish or another foreign language [think Arabic or Farsi]). This could be used to circumvent the Patriot Act rules on banking. It is a Really dumb loophole.

[JasonC]

They don't need them to be insured. They create the money they pay out - that is what banks do for a living. Money is the debt of a bank. So they run around looking for debts they can sign their name to, to literally make more money.

Sure they also want to be paid back. Between a 30% interest rate on defaults, collection agencies, 18% on non-defaulting customers who carry a balance, and up to 3% of the purchase price (maybe 1% shared with Mastercard or whoever), they get paid.