BofA provided this list of features added during the last year.
- Enhanced security. For the past two years, Javelin Strategy & Research
ranked Bank of America No. 1 in its Online Banking Safety Scorecard.
Bank of America led the industry with SiteKey(TM), a two-way
authentication system that helps customers confirm they are at the real
Bank of America Web site and avoid phishing scams.
The bank announced earlier this year that it would roll out new alerts
to help customers monitor accounts and detect potential fraudulent
activity. Customers can receive free alerts online, by cell phone or
PDAs about balances, payments, changes to sensitive passcodes and other
transactions.
Another security enhancement allows customers to use a combination of
letters, numbers and special characters such as underscores, hyphens
and asterisks to create an even stronger online ID and passcode. When
customers sign up for online banking or decide to change their ID or
passcode, they will not be able to use any portion or combination of
their Social Security number or ATM/debit card number. They also won't
be able to use their ATM/debit card PIN as their passcode.
In December, the bank launched the Bank of America Toolbar, powered by
EarthLink, to provide consumers another way to identify fraudulent Web
sites and prevent pop-up advertisements.
- Less paper. More customers than ever are "going paperless," choosing
to stop receiving a total of more than 3 million paper statements
through the mail. Along with increased convenience, going paperless
reduces the risk of mail fraud. Bank of America is encouraging this
trend by donating $1 per account to The Nature Conservancy's "Save A
Tree, Conserve a Forest" program when customers elect to stop receiving
paper versions of checking or savings account statements. The total
donation will be up to $500,000.
More consumers also are receiving bills electronically. Bank of America
customers received more than 6.1 million e-bills from more than 340
billers during February.
- Easier bill payment. Customers who use online bill payment can keep
money in their accounts longer. With an enhancement launched earlier
this year, money stays in the customer's account until the payee
receives the payment, rather than when the customer sends it.
Scheduling is also easier - customers simply say when the payment
should be delivered.
More than 7.5 million customers use Bank of America's free online bill
payment, making up more than 58% of the online banking bill payers in
the United States, according to comScore.
- Faster and shorter applications. Consumers can apply for a variety of
products online, including checking, savings, debit cards, credit
cards, home equity lines of credit and mortgage pre-approvals.
- Live chat. Bank of America has expanded secure, live text chat to help
answer consumer questions about opening accounts, starting online
banking and bill pay, getting credit cards, as well as applying for a
mortgage or a home equity line of credit. Consumers considering
mortgages and home equity lines of credit now have choices about when
they would like to talk directly to an associate.
- More products. Bank of America has launched online sales of more than
300 affinity credit cards. Throughout the year, more MBNA affinity
cards will be integrated into bankofamerica.com, and the cards are
rolling out to Bank of America banking centers.
To learn more about what's available online, go to bankofamerica.com.
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