kevin_standlee | Banking Oddities

As I get paid every Friday, I usually log in to my online banking to make sure the direct deposit is pending. I am overall very pleased with Bank of America's online banking system. It's much better than Washington Mutual's -- I have accounts with both banks and can therefore compare them directly. I especially like how BofA's online bill payment system works, with you being able to schedule bill payments based on the day they will clear, which eliminates any question of "float;" moreover, I've never had an e-payment go astray, unlike some paper ones.

However, today when I went to look at my checking account details, I was distressed to see that the three most recent transactions appeared to be electronic debits that I'd never authorized and that I did not recognize at all. It's sometimes difficult to tell from the detail gobbledygook, but they all looked like they were payments to -- maybe -- San Diego Parking of some sort, or maybe San Francisco. So I clicked through the first of them to find out more, and up popped the image of a check I'd written a few days ago, for the amount shown in the e-transaction. Odd. I backed up and tried another. Same thing -- a recent paper check for that amount. The last appeared to be the monthly service charge on the account, but again with the string of weirdness attached to it.

This needs faster action than sending an e-mail to customer service. I got on the phone and called. Somewhat to my surprise, I got a human being with almost no wait. I started to explain the situation to her when I heard a choked laugh. She explained that I wasn't the first person to report this and that they were having some sort of computer problems -- she didn't know the details -- and were working on.

"That's okay," I said, "As long as I'm not the only one affected. I just wanted to make sure my account hadn't been hacked."

She reassured me that it had not, and that they were trying to fix it.

Hey, I'm sympathetic. Trying to make changes to a system as large and complex as what BofA's must be has got to be very difficult. As long as they fix it, the disruption is minor to me.