About a month ago, I posted a bit of a rant about how Bank of America compromised the security of my credit card by sending an activated card in the mail without my knowledge.

The saga continues.

About 10 days after the fiasco started, I cancelled my account. I can no longer access the online banking system, so I'm pretty sure the account is dead. However, that may not necessarily be true. Shortly after closing my account, I did receive something in the mail from Bank of America. Looking at the postmark, it was close enough to the day when I cancelled, that I can understand it slipping by.

However, I have received something else in the mail at the end of last week. I also received the same offer in my email yesterday. While I was willing to allow some flexibility on the mailed material, the emailed material is unacceptable. Bulk mail is a slow and unwieldy process. Email is far more dynamic. How long should I be expecting to get marketing material for an account that (I hope) no longer exists?

So here's my question for Bank of America: Is my account actually closed or are you just that bad at your job?

In the modern world of the Internet, we have all become too familiar with the "system errors" that plague our virtual existence. These are usually not a major issue, but I find our willingness to accept them a bit absurd at times. Sure, some of those issue have to do with scaling or minor bugs, but I often feel that they are used to cover up human error or just because no one is watching.

The story starts a few years ago when I signed up for a credit card from Schwab. Shortly after I got the credit card, they said they had some sort of major issue and had to reissue a lot of cards. I got a new card with a new number and had to move all my auto-payments over again. They were always vague about why they had to this, which didn't make me comfortable. Still, they detected and fixed it without any real effort on my part. I can live with that, even though I was a bit worried. Months later, they sold the entire card over to FIA Card Services, the transition was smooth, but FIA offered very poor online banking options.

In mid-2011, it was announced that another change was coming. I was not happy as the wonderful 2% card was becoming much worse, not to mention that it was going to Bank of America. I got another card to try to keep the bulk of my purchases at or above the 2% reward level and figured it was good enough. The transition was rocky and included me not having any online access to information about my account for 20 days. I suffered through that to find Bank of America had worse online banking options than FIA. Still, I was only going to use the new card for gas and groceries, so it wouldn't be that bad.

Today, I received another copy of my card in the mail. I opened it and immediately wondered why Bank of America was increasing the odds of my card getting stolen. I have a card. I didn't ask for another one. Since I have just gotten back from vacation, I think about how scary it would have been if it was put in another resident's mailbox (a common occurrence) and left out in the open in our entry-way (another common occurrence) for some random person to take. This was an ACTIVE card. It's exactly the same as the card I'm using now, so it is already active without any verification of identity.

I called Bank of America immediately. I was told by a nice recording that I would have to wait "over 5 minutes" to talk to a representative. Yes, I suppose 20 minutes is more than 5, but I still hadn't talked to anyone yet. I tried online and was met with a 32 minute wait for an online chat representative. I tried later and made it through to someone almost immediately. Upon asking why another card was sent, she simply replied that she had no clue. It doesn't instill confidence, but I appreciate her honesty. I asked if there was any way to find out. She dug for a while. Well, it was a "system error" that the new card was sent. Apparently, there was a problem with the Schwab card replacements. She was sorry, but the card was sent in error. I registered my complaint about the security of my account, she said she agreed and would pass it to her management, and I thanked her before hanging up.

My question is this: who on Earth is QA-ing this crap? Heck, who's managing the project? I've charged over $600 to my new card in the past 2 months. It's pretty obvious that I got the original. I think they should learn from this and use it as an interview question. The people who don't say a word about checking for customers who have activated and used their card will not get a job. Just send them home right away. Banking software is complex with its security rules, pains of government regulation (people who've moved accounts to Washington State know what I mean), and strict need for complete accuracy. If someone can't come up with something as basic as "only send new cards to people who might actually need them" doesn't come up, I don't trust anything else they've done. I am not going to stand for yet another "system error" in my credit card account.

In conclusion, it was a fun 2 months with Bank of America. I will be paying off my card and closing the account as quickly as I can.