Closing A Bank of America Credit Card, How To Avoid Long Hold Times
A few weeks ago I wrote about the great culling of my credit card annual fees! I have been closing cards where it makes sense and downgrading others, farewell my beloved Aspire card. Next up on my list was closing my Bank of America Premium Rewards credit card and purging myself of its $95 annual fee that just posted. I carved out some time, dialed the number on the back of my card, followed the prompts and then was told that there was no one I could talk to. The recording said goodbye and hung up on me and that was that. Huh?
Now Bank of America has had their customer service issues in the past but this was a whole new level. Is closing a Bank of America credit card even possible these days? I will show you some tricks I learned along the way and a tip someone shared in our Facebook Group as well.
Online Is Not An Option – Unfortunately
While other banks like Chase and American Express allow you to do a lot of management online via secure message or chat, Bank of America is stuck in the 80’s. Even Citi dusted off their chat function, which should have never went away, during these strange times.
I get it, call centers are closed and less people are working the phone lines. I was fully prepared to wait, although I have no idea why every bank doesn’t have the call you back feature, but BoA didn’t even give me that option.
It doesn’t make sense why businesses don’t offer online options as it is. Online chat reps can work with multiple customers at the same time and it is simply more efficient which in turn is more cost effective. I guess it makes too much sense for Bank of America to have it as an option.
So How Did I Get Through To Cancel My Bank Of America Credit Card?
Even though Bank of America doesn’t have a lot of online options I decided to give the virtual assistant in their app a try. I figured maybe it would be automated like Amex Chat is for closing accounts. As you can imagine, it wasn’t! But Erica, their virtual app assistant, was willing to connect me to an agent so I gave it a try. I was connected via a new number and it appears they automatically plugged in the extension of the retention department.
After dialing through I was told I would be on hold for 21 minutes, not a huge deal. I put my Apple AirPods in so I could work while I waited on hold. To my surprise someone picked up in under 10 minutes and I went through the steps to cancel my Bank of America credit card. So it appears using Erica in the BoA app can help you get to a rep faster.
Another Option
Another option that was shared in our Facebook Group was to go into a bank branch. They are able to close credit card accounts there as well. Most of the branches are still open, although the hours are limited.
I was trying to avoid this as much as possible, as I encourage you to do as well. But if nothing else works that is an option available to you.
Final Thoughts
Closing my Bank of America credit card was more difficult than I originally anticipated. These are strange times so a wait was expected but to be told no one could take my call was a little surprising. Even though BoA doesn’t have adequate online ability I was able to get a solid assist from their app. Bank of America’s virtual assistant, Erica, grabbed me a phone number that seemed to get me past their call center block. And I was able to close my account after 10-15 minutes on the phone. It is good to know the branch is a viable option if it is necessary but I wanted to avoid that if at all possible.
Hopefully these banks start investing more into offering better online options. People want simplicity and less human contact whenever possible these days. It is also the most cost efficient way to do it, so what are you waiting for Bank of America?
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I had to go into the branch on Thursday for a similar credit card-related issue (completing a product change). When I got to the branch, they told me the best they could do was open a ticket on my behalf since they really don’t have access to the credit card system. I shrugged and said, “sure”. Three hours later my issue was fixed.
I am surprised they weren’t able to do more at the branch. I am glad they got it handled pretty quickly though – thanks for sharing!
[…] How I Got Around Bank of America Telling Me There Was No One To Take My Call […]
Yesterday I literally was on hold with Barclay for 2 1/2 hours TWICE (HUCA) to speak to (very pleasant but impossible to understand) representatives in what sounded first like India, second like the Philippines. Just put the phone on speaker mode while I worked. They really were not helpful in my attempt to downgrade cards to no fee versions.
It is really tough right now for sure to get anything done. Why having a chat or secure message option just makes sense for everyone involved.
Yes, I’ve experienced this. You can be on hold for 30 minutes and no one will be taking your call. One of the worst big banks.
Citi’s chat feature is very limited and related to COVID-19.
Yup – better than nothing but I wish they would reinvest bringing it back full blown.
Mark, I’d like to know your reasoning behind closing this card since with the $100 Airline Incidental Credit and the ability to purchase an AA Gift Card, the annual fee actually turns into Bank of America paying us $5 a year to keep this card. Not to mention the spectacular rewards scheme if you are a Platinum Honors Preferred Rewards member.
That is one way to look at it but it is assuming you were going to spend $100 on American Airlines anyway. But it also forces you into using an inferior card for the purchase and for an item I can get for more than 5% off at pretty much any time. Now if I had Plat Honors then I would be singing a different tune but I do not. If you are rocking Plat honors then I think it is a long term keeper for sure. That is my thinking behind it at least.
Thanks for the insight Mark. Yes, I am Platinum Honors. Got the Premium Rewards card the first day it came out and plan to keep it a long time. Take care and stay safe!
Mr G
I am jealous of all of the cash back you will be racking up 🙂
Redeemed 100,000 points last year when I was out of work. Definitely helped. Doubt I’ll ever accumulate that many again though as it included the 50,000 I got from the sign up bonus.
Had an issue once when I called was told they can’t service my call because it didn’t appear I was calling from my home. Which I was. After another call and speaking with a supervisor she admitted it wasn’t handled correctly. I’m just glad it’s the no fee card so very easy to set aside.