February 28, 2007

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  UPDATE: BoA Reacts to ‘Credit for Illegals' Brouhaha

  To say that Bank of America caught some flack for its plan to offer credit to illegal aliens would be a gross understatement. Ever since The Wall Street Journal broke the news two weeks ago that the nation's credit card king would be giving credit cards to those without Social Security numbers, the bank has faced a tempest of outrage from consumers and critics alike. Apparently, the populace is irritated that those entering the U.S. illegally should be automatically given credit, when born and naturalized citizens have to work so hard to maintain theirs.
  
  Word was that even Washington was dismayed by the news – it is an easily intuitive leap of logic to see how terrorists could exploit this new boon to finance dangerous activities. BoA CEO Kenneth D. Lewis responded to the challenged by penning an op-ed piece to the WSJ, which was published last Thursday.
  
  The letter claimed that "after a week of listening to our customers, we have made a decision" – which, of course, was to continue with the proposed program, which will rollout in pilot form in Los Angeles. Citing a clause in the U.S. Patriot Act (which had been heavily pushed for by the banking industry) that provided for banks to be able to accept official forms of other nations' governmental I.D. – including the Mexican matricula card – Lewis defended the bank's decision to give "new arrivals" to the nation a "better quality of life." Critics have responded that BoA knows that Americans don't have a plethora of banking and/or credit card choices, and BoA's size and clout allow them to offer some of the most competitive perks in the industry – so, basically, consumers can't really stop the bank from doing what it wishes

  To read the original story about Bank of America's plan to offer credit to those without Social Security numbers, click here.
  
  
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