BoA class action alleges bank charged unfair interest when customers paid account balance

Bank of America class action overview: 

• Who: Plaintiff Skye Ruozzi filed a class action lawsuit against Bank of America. 
• Why: Bank of America charged credit card customers interest despite the customers selecting the automated “account balance” option to pay off the full card balance, the lawsuit says.
• Where: The Bank of America interest lawsuit was filed in federal court in New York.

A consumer filed a class action lawsuit claiming that Bank of America interest is added to credit card accounts even when the user automatically chooses to pay the “account balance” on an account.

“Account balance” is one of four automated options to pay, along with “minimum amount due,” “amount due” and “fixed amount.”

“Reasonable consumers would expect that after selecting ‘Account Balance,’ Bank of America would withdraw the total amount due from their deposit accounts every month, and, as a result, no balance would carry over to the next month and no interest would accrue,” the lawsuit argues.

The proposed class would include anyone who was charged Bank of America interest despite selecting the “account balance” payment option, a group that could be found through Bank of America’s payment records.

Automatic payments meant to simplify process, avoid late fees and interest

Automatic credit card payments have become increasingly common, with automatic payments surpassing paper check payments in 2018 as the second most-common payment method after online non-automatic payments, the Bank of America class action says.

Those payment methods are supposed to simplify the payment process and ensure that payments are fully made on time, avoiding late fees and interest payments, the class action argues.

Instead, Bank of America’s “account balance” option is confusing to consumers and leads to unnecessary Bank of America interest charges, the lawsuit says.

According to the lawsuit, plaintiff Skye Ruozzi contacted Bank of America in October 2023 about the interest charges and was told the charges were an “error” in the bank’s system.

Another consumer filed a class action lawsuit in early May against Bank of America saying the bank does not legitimately investigate fraud claims, instead sending out form letter denials arguing its customers are responsible for banking fraud.

Have you been charged Bank of America interest despite choosing the option to pay your account balance? Let us know in the comments.

The plaintiff is represented by Michael J.S. Pontone of The Law Offices of Michael J.S. Pontone.

The Bank of America class action lawsuit is Ruozzi v. Bank of America, Case No. 1:24-cv-03783, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

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