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I recently went through a situation where my BofA checking account was locked, and it took quite a while to get it unlocked. I wanted to share the experience in case it helps others.

BofA account got locked

I had had my BofA account for a long time, and it had always worked very smoothly. Depositing checks, making transfers, and using bill pay had all been trouble-free. BofA also has a reputation in the community for being relatively tolerant, unlike Chase, where even a small cash deposit can supposedly trigger a shutdown. But eventually, I still got hit. It really scared me.

I needed to pay a friend, and when I saw that ACH transfers had no fee, I figured I would just use ACH to send the money.

Adding the recipient was easy. I just had to enter the other person’s information. There were three options, and you could choose one-way or two-way access. If it’s not your own account, you can only send money to it. Adding an ACH recipient required email verification, but I didn’t run into any issues there either.

After entering the verification code, the recipient was added successfully.

Since everything was going so smoothly, I went ahead and initiated the ACH transfer. Right after that, I got a confirmation email, and it all seemed fine.

Just when I was feeling good about it, I received another email a little later asking me to call in for verification.

At that point I was still pretty optimistic. I thought they just wanted to confirm that I was the one who initiated the transfer, and that everything would be fine after the verification.

Calling the fraud department

I called the number in the email and found that it was for the fraud department (account protection). After entering my account number, I got connected to a representative.

  • Rep: Please state your name.
  • Me: xxx
  • Me: I just initiated a transfer, and then I got an email telling me to call this number.
  • Rep: Let me check. Yes, I see it. You need to verify your identity with ID.
  • Me: How do I do that?
  • Rep: Bring two valid IDs to a local BofA branch to verify your identity.
  • Me: I’m not in the U.S. right now. How am I supposed to verify it?
  • Rep: Then you’ll have to wait until you return to the U.S.
  • Me: .....
  • Me: I won’t be going back to the U.S. anytime soon. What am I supposed to do?
  • Rep: There’s no other option. You have to verify in person in the U.S.
  • Me: Fine, then I won’t do the transfer. Please cancel it for me.
  • Rep: If you don’t verify, it will be canceled automatically. But if you don’t verify your identity, this checking account will also be temporarily frozen.
  • Me: ......

At that point I started to panic. BofA is my main bank. I use it to pay credit cards, send transfers, and receive money. If they shut it down, it would be a huge hassle for me. I quickly tried logging into my BofA account, and sure enough, I could no longer log in online. Holding onto a last bit of hope, I asked the rep whether only online banking was disabled or the entire checking account. The rep said all functions were suspended until I verified my identity.

That was a total bolt from the blue. But thankfully, as a seasoned credit card hobbyist, I thought of a possible workaround:

  • Me: If you can’t resolve this, please transfer me to a supervisor.
  • Rep: That won’t help. The only way is to go to a branch with ID.
  • Me: Please transfer me anyway.
  • Rep: Okay, please hold.

I wasn’t asking for a supervisor because I thought the front-line rep was refusing to help or because I wanted to complain about them. It’s just that front-line reps usually have limited authority, and many problems are outside their scope. If you run into an issue they can’t solve, there’s no need to make things difficult for them or argue endlessly. Just ask to be transferred to a supervisor. In general, if you ask during working hours, they’ll usually transfer you. After all, that passes the difficult case to their manager and saves them trouble. I’ve tried this several times before and have never been refused a transfer to a supervisor.

That said, the wait was very long. At one point I even thought the call had been disconnected and pressed a few buttons. The front-line rep came back immediately and told me to keep waiting because they were still trying to reach the supervisor.

Talking to the supervisor

After waiting about half an hour, I finally got through. Talking to the supervisor was much more straightforward. I assume the front-line rep had already explained my situation.

  • Supervisor: Please verify your name.
  • Me: xx
  • Supervisor: Tell me what happened.
  • Me: I wanted to transfer money to a friend, then I got an email telling me to call fraud. After that, my account was frozen. I don’t want to make the transfer anymore. Please cancel it and unfreeze my account.
  • Supervisor: We can unlock it, but you’ll need to answer some security questions.
  • Me: No problem, go ahead.
  • Supervisor: I see that you opened this bank account using an I20 and a passport. (That’s how I opened it when I first went to the U.S. for school, and I never updated my status afterward.)
  • Me: Yes.
  • Supervisor: Can you give me the ID from your I20?
  • Me: One second. (I pulled up the I20 on my computer but couldn’t find any ID on it, so I just gave a number from the form.)
  • Supervisor: That doesn’t match. Let me try another question.
  • Me: Sure.
  • Supervisor: Please verify your address.
  • Me: I’ve moved several times. Which address do you want? My address is aaaa.
  • Supervisor: That did not verify.
  • Me: Try bbbb.
  • Supervisor: That did not verify.
  • Me: Is there another way to verify? As for that I20 number, I can try a few more possibilities, since there really isn’t anything clearly labeled ID on it.
  • Supervisor: That verification method has already expired.
  • Me: What do you mean? There really isn’t an ID on the I20. If that doesn’t work, I can even email you the I20.
  • Supervisor: There’s no way to proceed. Verification can’t be completed anymore.

I was furious. I literally couldn’t prove that I was myself. But there really was nothing I could do. If I couldn’t pass the system’s questions, they couldn’t unlock the account.

  • Me: xxxxxxxxx, fine. Can I close the account and get my money back? I have quite a bit of money in there.
  • Supervisor: Yes, but you would need to go to one of our financial centers.
  • Me: xxxx, if I could go there, I would just go verify my ID directly.
  • Supervisor: .........
  • Me: If you won’t give my money back, then I’ll have to file a complaint with the CFPB!
  • Supervisor: .........
  • Me: I’ve had this account with you for 8 or 9 years, and I’m even at your platinum rewards tier. And you’re going to lock my account over something this minor? I’m definitely going to complain.
  • Supervisor: After you initiated the transfer, did you receive an email from the fraud department? There should be a reference number in it....
  • Me: You should’ve said that earlier. Of course I have it. The number is xxxxx.
  • Supervisor: Okay, I’m in. There’s one more verification question. Who was your employer at that time?
  • Me: It was XXX. I worked at xxx, and my boss was xxx.
  • Supervisor: Okay, that passed. I’ve successfully restored your checking account, and you should be able to log in now.
  • Me: Finally. Thank you. Please cancel that transfer too. I don’t need it anymore.
  • Supervisor: Since you didn’t verify it, it will be canceled automatically.
  • Me: I’ll use another method to transfer the money. I won’t use BofA for this.
  • Supervisor: Yes, that’s fine. Anything else I can help you with?
  • Me: No.

I immediately went online to try logging in, and sure enough, I was able to access the account normally again.

What happened afterward

I checked the account again and saw that the transfer had already been canceled automatically.

But the Bilt pay setup I had made that day was still there.

At least online banking was working again, so that was worth celebrating.

Lessons learned

Getting an account locked is something that can happen to anyone, so here are a few takeaways.

  • If there’s a problem with your account, contact customer service right away. Use the phone number in the email or the one on the back of your card, but make sure you don’t call the wrong number.
  • When answering identity-verification questions, be very careful. Think before you answer. For things like your address, it’s best to give the most current one. After I logged in later, I discovered that the address on file was my latest address, while I had only answered with two older ones. Even though I hadn’t manually updated it, the bank had apparently updated it automatically, probably by matching it with my credit report.
  • If your issue can’t be resolved, don’t give up. Ask for a supervisor, and if necessary, keep escalating. If that still doesn’t work, mentioning complaint channels such as the CFPB or BBB may have some effect. At the very least, the supervisor may take your case more seriously.

If you’ve ever had an account locked and then unlocked, feel free to share your experience too.