Banks have pushed customers to ATMs and online banking for years. Now Bank of America is inviting people to come in, chat, talk with real bankers and tellers.
Bank of America had the worst score for customer satisfaction compared with its national rivals. As a group, they all lagged behind credit unions and regional banks.
Federal prosecutors in New York are accusing the bank of defrauding the government by rushing home loans through the approval process, then selling them to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The Justice Department says Countrywide Financial — which B of A bought in 2008 — cranked out bad home loans without proper checks to make sure they were legit, and then sold those mortgages to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Bank of America will pay $2.4 billion to shareholders as part of a settlement announced this morning. It's compensation for maybe not sharing the whole story when B of A bought the failing brokerage Merrill Lynch in 2008.
Bank of America, bloated by national expansion and saddled with bad mortgages, is speeding up its plan to cut 30,000 jobs. The Wall Street Journal says the bank could reach its downsizing goal a year early.