Bank of America Eliminates Money Transfer Fees to Mexico

Associated Press ^ | Jan 27th, 2005

[DaiHuy]

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Bank of America Corp., hoping to grab a larger share of the U.S.-Mexican financial services market, will drop all foreign exchange and other transfer fees between the two countries, the bank said Thursday.

Starting in Chicago, the Charlotte-based bank will offer account holders free money transfers between the two countries by the end of the year. Other customers will pay a reduced fee until the program rolls out nationwide in late 2005.

"Our customers have identified this need, and we are responding," said Liam McGee, the bank's consumer and small business president.

According to the United Nations, U.S. consumers sent $13.9 billion to Mexico in 2003 through remittances.

"Remittances to Mexico and the fees charged have been an issue we've been discussing for some time," said Janet Murguia, executive director and chief operating officer of the National Council of La Raza. "The elimination of fees is a great benefit to those hardworking immigrants who save their money to provide for families back home."

Bank of America opened more than 1 million checking accounts for Hispanic customers in 2004.

[monkeywrench]

"Not suprised at all. Bank of America accepts Matricular consular phony id cards against the recommendation of the dept. of Homeland Security"

I wonder how many jihadis have one?

[international american]

It costs me 30-40 dollars to TT money to China and Malaysia
I will bring this up next time........BANK on it!!

[dennisw]

I still have a credit card with Bank of America ... going to cancel it.

[RnMomof7]

But I still have to pay $3 to get my canceled checks.

Not if the American Public ( the legal one) removes their money from that bank

They do not make any money moving money from one country to another.. so lets dry up their income and let them get it from the illegals

[RnMomof7]

Do we have any statistics on how many illegal aliens actually keep bank accounts? I'd suspect the number is small.

You need a reality check...

Why do American citizens have to pay for banking services there?

[skeeter]

Wait a minute - how do we know this was meant to accomodate illegal aliens??

/s

[Bikers4Bush]

Exactly, they charge us for atm transactions but not illegal aliens for sending money out of the country.

Complete garbage. I'll never do business with this bank.

[sasafras]

I dont have any problem with this, I just refuse to bank with B&A. Its their decision if they want to do this then fine. Its the RINOs in power that do nothing to control the border that Im POd at.

[OXENinFLA]

Glad this isn't my bank, I'd be pulling my money out ASAP....

[BigSkyFreeper]

Not my bank either, but I'm not happy with the sheer incompetance of the locally owned bank that I use.

[Joe Hadenuf]

Bank of America is anything but. I quit banking with those sellout, greedy SOBs 10 years ago.

[JustAnotherSavage]

I just realized that I have a BAC credit card, never us it. They will be getting a certified letter with the pieces of it with the reason I no longer will be doing business with them.

Interestingly MALDEF is funded by Bank of America, along with Washington Mutual, Wells Fargo and others.

PLATINUM PARTNERS: $100,000+
Washington Mutual

SILVER PARTNERS: $10,000 ú $49,000
Bank of America

BRONZE PARTNERS: $1,000 ú $9,999
J.P. Morgan Chase

http://ccir.net/REFERENCE/MALDEF-2002-2003.html
******
A little background on "poor" Mexico:

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0412/16/ldt.01.html

Aired 12/16/04 On CNN

DOBBS: Tonight, an estimated 15 million illegal aliens live in this country (20 million according to Bear Stearns report later that month), at least half of them from Mexico. Many are here because they chose to flee crushing poverty in Mexico.

But, in point of fact, Mexico is one of the richest countries in Latin America, amongst -- the millionaires, billionaires and its wealth concentrated in the hands of very few.


CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They sneak across the border seeking jobs they can't find in Mexico. The question isn't why they come, it's why can't Mexico's economy support its own people.

Nearly half of Mexico's population lives in poverty. Ten percent are indigent, existing on a dollar a day. Yet the nation has vast wealth. Mexico has more "Forbes" billionaires, 11, than all but eight other nations. It has more billionaires than Saudi Arabia, Switzerland or Taiwan. It also has more than 85,000 millionaires.

GEORGE W. GRAYSON, COLLEGE OF WILLIAM & MARY: There is a small economic elite who live like maharajas, and there's a political elite that protects them. Our border provides an escape valve which really lets the Mexican political and economic elite off the hook in terms of providing opportunities for their own people.

WIAN (on camera): About 10 percent of Mexico's 105 million people live here in the United States. They're called national heroes by President Vicente Fox because this year they'll send home about $16 billion, more than any Mexican industry except oil.

Mexico's outdated tax system is plagued by widespread tax evasion. It collects taxes at less than half the rate of the United States. As a result, Mexico's public-school and health-care systems suffer.

WIAN: Meanwhile, the gap between rich and poor is growing. So Mexico continues to export one of its most valuable assets, people.

[conservative in nyc]

You need a reality check...

Why do American citizens have to pay for banking services there?

Bank fees are far too high, period. But there is a cost to providing checking services, which isn't necessarily offset by the interest a bank can earn by lending out what's in your checking account.

But a wire transfer from an account at Bank of America in the United States to a Bank of America-owned bank in Mexico is essentially costless. Press a button, and it's complete. And the bank can earn interest on the float for a day or two.

By the way, how much did you pay Paypal to send money to JimRob the last time you donated to Free Republic? Why shouldn't Paypal be charging you, under your logic?

[conservative in nyc]

If you use any real bank, it shouldn't cost you anything to transfer money by using the bank's "Pay by Internet" feature. A hard wire transfer costs money because banks can get away with charging money, and have to pay for the infrastructure used to make hard wire transfers (or so they claim).

The market for remittances to Mexico is much larger than Thailand, China, the Philippines, Australia or anywhere in Europe. There are more Mexican-born LEGAL immigrants here than from any of those countries. And Bank of America and other U.S. banks have Mexican retail banking affiliates through which they can accomplish transfers cheaply. They don't necessarily have retail affiliates in those other countries.

Look -- I'm no fan of illegal immigration. Illegal immigrants shouldn't be given drivers licenses. And they shouldn't be able to open up bank accounts using some unreliable Mexican consular card (or at all) without providing a valid Social Security number for themselves so that we can tax any interest income. But I don't really have a problem with any bank lowering fees on any service. And I'd actually rather have transfers effectuated by a bank, which will cooperate with the feds in money laundering investigations, than some fly-by-night outfit, which may not.