Recently, attorneys general from 15 Republican states wrote a letter to Bank of America this past week, requesting information about allegations that the bank has engaged in discriminatory behavior toward its customer base. Bank of America has denied these accusations.
Republican Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, who is spearheading the inquiry, voiced concerns about the financial giant de-banking customers for being conservative and Christian. According to Kobach, Bank of America has even provided customer’s private information to the government, where conservative customers could be designated as “potential domestic terrorists.”
Bank of America has reportedly closed the accounts of several religious organizations over the past few years. For example, in 2020, the bank informed Timothy Two Project International that its account would be closed because it was “operating a business type we have chosen not to service.”
“It is nearly impossible to function today as an individual, family, or organization without a bank account, a credit card, and the ability to obtain a loan. Federal and state governments recognize the necessity of these kinds of financial services, which is why they have passed numerous laws to prohibit various types of discrimination in the past. It is also why national banks like yours receive bailouts and many other privileges, courtesy of the American taxpayers,” the letter opened, illustrating how it is a necessity to have access to financial services.
The statement accused Bank of America of providing conditional access to customers based on “religious or political views.” The Republican-led initiative slams the alleged conduct as being incongruent with the bank’s mission to provide quality business for its customers.
“Unfortunately, Bank of America appears to be conditioning access to its services on customers having the bank’s preferred religious or political views. This is inconsistent with your bank’s promise to uphold “the highest standards of corporate governance and ethical conduct[, including] efforts to always do business the right way for [its] customers.” Surely Bank of America would not say that denying service to clients for exercising their civil liberties is doing “business the right way for [its] customers,” the letter continued.
The conservative AGs further asserted that such business practices could be illegal and violate the Constitution. The letter demanded transparency from the bank in their business practices to provide proof that customers are not being de-banked on the basis of politics or religion.
“Your discriminatory behavior is a serious threat to free speech and religious freedom, is potentially illegal, and is causing political and regulatory backlash. Your bank needs to be transparent with and assure us, its shareholders, and others that it will not continue to de-bank customers for their speech or religious exercise,” the Republican attorneys general said.
However, a spokesperson on behalf of Bank of America issued a statement denying the accusations made about the company’s business practices. “Religious beliefs are not a factor in any account-closing decision,” the spokesperson told the Christian Post. “We are proud to provide banking services to non-profit organizations affiliated with diverse faith communities throughout the United States.”
“Our U.S. division that serves small businesses doesn’t offer banking services to organizations that provide debt collection services for a variety of risk-related considerations and doesn’t serve small businesses operating outside the United States,” the spokesperson continued.
Featured image credit: Alex Proimos from Sydney, Australia, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bank_of_America_(5867550791).jpg
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