Bank of America defends small business practices

Bank of America was put on the defensive by recent reports, notably in the Los Angeles Times, that it was unfairly tightening up credit for small businesses.

Bank of America calls the media reports “speculation,” noting that it has “put in a maturity date and annual renewal process in lines of credit, which are considered standard practices. The credit lines previously didn’t include these standard practices, notes Credit Union Times. The bank also says that the changes were explained one year in advance of the new maturity date.

“This allowed time for us to work with all affected clients to explore other products available to best meet their business needs,” a bank representative told the paper. In addition, the bank says it has been able to work with 98 percent of the clients in the affected group “and at this point the overwhelming majority of those solutions involve the same interest rate as before.”

Most of the affected customers are apparently still with the bank. In the court of public opinion, skepticism about the bank endures. And the really disgruntled customers can be expected to go to the media, which still sees Bank of America as a good local story. The fiasco over its ill-fated attempts to impose a debit card fee was anything but good for its reputation. And it still suffers from some really rotten practices stemming from the Countryside purchase. Negative news breeds in such an environment.

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Related article:
Bank of America squeezes small businesses

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