Bank of America Offers Credit Cards to Illegal Immigrants

[The Straight Story]

Bank of America Offers Credit Cards to Illegal Immigrants

Bank of America Offers Credit Cards to Illegal Immigrants
Written for the web by Ayesha Thomas, Multimedia Producer


NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp. has begun offering credit cards to customers without Social Security numbers, typically illegal immigrants, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.

In recent years, banks across the country have been offering checking accounts and even mortgages to the nation's fast-growing ranks of undocumented immigrants, most of whom are Hispanic, the paper said, adding these immigrants generally have not been able to get major credit cards.

The new Bank of America card is open to people who lack both a Social Security number and a credit history, as long as they have held a checking account with the bank for three months without an overdraft, the Journal said.

http://www.news10.net/display_story.aspx?storyid=24407

[RB TexLa]

1. Every bank sets their standards for extending credit

good for them.

[Rosemary2205]

2. Now that's great news.

between credit cards and payday loans we can keep them working at near slave wages all their lives.

:puke:

[slackmaster]

5. Yup, just like welfare families and working poor who are US citizens

One more way to exploit one more class of serfs.

[etherealtruth]

9. Ding, ding, ding ....

that would be the only motivation

[slackmaster]

10. Not quite the ONLY motivation but close...

Former banker here.

This offering will appear prominently in BofA's next annual Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) statement.

http://www.federalreserve.gov/dcca/cra/

[slackmaster]

3. Note the conspicuous lack of information about what interest rates they'll charge

It's bound to be MUCH higher for someone who doesn't have an SSN and a better established customer relationship.

[no_hypocrisy]

4. I can see a lot of defaults and multiple applications under different

names and addresses in the future for BofA.

[hpot]

6. Just wondering..

How can illegal immigrants obtain bank accounts without valid government identification? I believe it is a banking requirement in the Patriot Act.

[RB TexLa]

7. I know Arkansas was where many people went to get driver's licenses

but I think the rightwing got a law passed placing new restrictions on issuing driver's licenses.

[Freddie Stubbs]

8. Many illegal immigrants have valid government ID

[slackmaster]

12. Is the Matricula Consular (MC) card acceptable for a bank account?

It really shouldn't be, but historically it's been accepted for a lot of things in SoCal and other border states.

[slackmaster]

11. A passport is valid ID

I believe a Mexican driver's license is acceptable too.