According to the blog Dollars and Sense, Bank of America has wronged America once more. Perhaps a lineup change is needed. B of A hasn’t been able to hit its way out of a paper bag lately. They’re shelling out multimillions for sports marketing, so their employees must all still have jobs, right? Wrong. Plus, Kenneth Lewis’ black hole is now preying upon the “unbanked” and others who depend upon cash advance loans at times.

The BoA branch in the Dollars and Sense author’s part of town is engaging in open class warfare. The elegant, executive-chic area for big-account investors is conveniently located at street level. If you’re a run-of-the-mill customer, you have to go down a flight of stairs and into a “dingy and low-ceilinged space reminiscent of a welfare office.”

Wait… it gets MUCH better

The author, who is not a Bank of America account holder, went into the nether-regions to cash his paycheck. Despite the fact that the check drew upon a Bank of America account and was made out to the author, the bank required him to pay a $6 fee. To make matters worse, he was required to leave them with a fingerprint – “for security.”

They already charge $3 for out-of-network ATM users. While I don’t agree with it, I can see how they might justify that.

How Bank of American and other megalithic banks can be allowed to nickel-and-dime anyone anymore is beyond me. Alternatives exist. Bank of America is being sued and is losing, all because of their practices. With so many people locked out of mainstream banking and big banks reeling during these difficult economic times, you’d think they’d work a little bit harder to draw customers.

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The more things change, the more banks and their CEOs remain the same.

Ben Klayman reports for Reuters that Bank of America CEO Kenneth Lewis defended his bank’s multimillion-dollar spending on sports marketing. He claims the profits are worth the investment in sales and profits, but I say that’s more of a long-term investment. People are losing their jobs right NOW while you continue to throw money around that could feed their families. It would be a humanitarian cash advance…

I’ve got a nice New York Yankees checking account for you…

Bank of America (wisely!) doesn’t reveal what they spend on sponsorships. According to Klayman, revenue comes from “sales of sports-themed consumer banking products, as well as providing financial services to sports leagues and teams.”

Bonuses, perks and other spending have become a political hot button during these difficult times, even though they were once considered commonplace and acceptable. Billions of government (taxpayer) bailout dollars will tend to change minds, it seems.

Get in the game!

“Obviously, there are lots of business executives who just really enjoy having access to the teams and the athletes,” Lewis said. “For the record, I don’t. I really enjoy going to the mountains for the weekend with my wife.”

Great, Ken. But you’ve let the cat out of the bag. This has as much to do with the corporate spiffs as it does making money later! Bank of America has sponsorships with the National Football League, Major League Baseball and NASCAR, as well as individual NFL and MLB  teams. It’s also a NASCAR race title sponsor and sponsor of the Chicago marathon. Lots of events for your executives to enjoy while you go hiking!

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