Many Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) branches will now permanently close soon in California due to the rapid popularity of online banking.
Which Bank of America branches are closing permanently?
According to OCC.gov, the federal Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the following California-based Bank of America branches are permanently closing from this August until the end of October:
- 2701 Harbor Blvd, Costa Mesa
- 336 South Twin Oaks Valley Rd, San Marcos
- 5800 South Eastern Ave, Los Angeles
- 336 South Twin Oaks Valley Rd, San Marcos
- 5800 South Eastern Ave, Los Angeles
- 1818 South Euclid St, Anaheim
- 200 Cochrane Plaza, Morgan Hill
- 2925 Scott Blvd, Santa Clara
- 3491 McKee Rd, San Jose
- 1400 Moraga Way, Moraga
- 2049 Century Park East, Los Angeles
- 1275 Fell St, San Francisco
As reported by Joel Eisenberg.
Bank of America’s latest branch shut down’s are expected to continue throughout the fourth quarter of 2023 as this trend continues to grow across the entire banking sector.
Will Bank of America close more branches in 2024?
According to The-Sun, a particular branch, on Truxton Avenue in downtown Bakersfield, is scheduled to close early next year.
“The downtown building will be officially shuttered in February, and all Bank of America customers were warned of the upcoming closure by email.
While the bank has not disclosed why the specific branch will be shutting down, it said customers should expect to say their final goodbyes by February 27, 2024.
To date, Bank of America has nine other financial centers or ATMs available in Bakersfield, meaning most customers won’t have to go far for services once the Truxton Avenue bank is shuttered.”
Bank of America has also closed 5% of its branches in Philadelphia.
In 2021, the bank closed 4,000 branches.
Also Read: Bank of America is Freezing Accounts in New Scandal
Latest Banking News Today
Banks are now closing thousands of customer accounts daily with reports only growing in the last year.
“The figures, obtained through a freedom of information (FoI) request made to City watchdog the Financial Conduct Authority and first reported in the Mail on Sunday, revealed that in 2016-17, just over 45,000 accounts were shut by banks.
The total has increased every year since, climbing to just over 343,000 accounts in 2021-22 – representing well over 1,000 for every business day of the week,” says The Guardian.
When people or organizations have their bank accounts closed, they often receive little or no explanation as to why this has happened, though the banks sometimes say it is due to concerns over financial crime such as money laundering and fraud, says The Guardian’s Betsy Reed.
Commenting on the data, the FCA said increased monitoring by banks might explain some of the increase in account closures. There are about 75m accounts in the UK.
It said: “We know that the total number of customers that banks have ceased doing business with for financial crime reasons is less than 0.2%. Tackling financial crime remains a priority of the FCA.
“We have seen firms increase their monitoring of accounts over the past couple of years, which may account for the increase in the figures.”
The government has announced plans to change the rules around bank account closures – including a requirement for banks to give longer notice of an impending shutdown.
“In some cases banks are legally prevented from telling customers why an account has been closed,” said Tina McKenzie, policy chair of the Federation of Small Businesses.
“But where possible, they should be told, so that if there has been a misinterpretation or misunderstanding, it can be swiftly resolved.”
And in the U.S., banks such as JPMorgan, Bank of America, and others are drawing scrutiny from the public eye.
Also Read: New Study Shows Nearly 190 Banks on Verge of Collapsing
US Banks Draw Public Scrutiny for Freezing Accounts
US banks are drawing scrutiny for freezing accounts and withdrawals, and in some cases closing customer accounts too.
CBS Los Angeles reports that a growing number of people say they are abruptly losing access to their entire bank accounts.
The report cites the sudden account closure of Elad Nehorai, who received an ominous alert while logging into his Bank of America account.
He then drove to a branch in West LA, where he was told his account had been shut down and access to his life savings was denied, says DH.
“Bank of America told me it was shut down. They refused to give me an explanation. They told me I would get my money after it was resolved.
All of a sudden I find out I’m broke. I can’t feed my family and I can’t pay any expenses,” reported Elad.
Banks typically shut down accounts over concerns of suspicious behavior, says DH.
But according to the Banking Policy Institute, only 4% of Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) submitted by banks to law enforcement result in a follow-up, and a small fraction of the follow-ups result in arrests and convictions.
Nehorai says Bank of America, which has $1.4 trillion in assets under management, said it would take up to 20 days to review his account.
“It’s another one of those situations where you just – how do you deal with this massive bank, this massive power that you have no control over? I was shocked to find out that this is actually relatively common.”
In July, thousands of customers who had their Coinbase accounts linked to Bank of America reported their accounts also being frozen or closed.
Related: JPMorgan Is Freezing Customer Bank Accounts in New Scandal
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