Bank of America Defends Immigrant Credit Card Program

What’s interesting in chairman and CEO of Bank of America Kenneth D. Lewis’s op-ed piece for the Wall Street Journal is the tone of surprise.  “For the 200,000 associates at Bank of America, the harsh reaction by some to our pilot program marketing credit cards in Los Angeles has been deeply concerning.”

The pilot program Lewis is speaking of involves offering credit cards to folks without social security numbers.

Or, to put it more bluntly: offering credit cards to illegal aliens.

Lewis’s op-ed defense of Bank of America’s program comes after opposition in Congress, as well as from grass-roots anti-immigration groups.  Many have called for boycotts against the Number 2 U.S. Bank – and, seemingly, a lot of people are listening.

“But…but…,” is the tenor of most of Lewis’s essay.  Lewis argues – maybe, or maybe not, convincingly – that the program is not aimed at illegal immigrants (“Let me be clear: Bank of America does not deliberately market financial products and services to illegal immigrants from any country.”).  Lewis argues that the program is not illegal and does not compromise national security (“Our program complies with all our company’s efforts to work with law enforcement agencies to prevent misuse of our nation’s financial systems.”) Lewis argues that Bank of America is surprised to find itself in the middle of America’s issues with immigration.

Lewis writes: “The program is not about illegal immigrants, and never was. It is designed to help Bank of America customers build a credit history. We believe we have an obligation to serve all those in our country who are legally eligible to receive services. To do less would be discriminatory and unfair.”

Anticipating the question, “Who, if not illegal immigrants, would be trying to open bank accounts and credit card accounts?” Lewis reminds us, “Many of the laws the financial services industry follows today were put in place to help protect America. Shortly after 9/11, Congress, in near unanimous agreement, passed, and the president signed into law, the USA Patriot Act. This law has one provision that troubles many of its critics. It allows financial institutions to accept some official identification sources issued by foreign governments, including the matricula consular, an ID issued by Mexican consulate offices to its nationals living outside Mexico, as valid.”

And, “While many people legally in our country do not possess Social Security numbers, 84% of the participants in our pilot do. The remaining 16% meet the requirements for government-issued ID as set forth above.”

Ultimately, regardless of criticisms and boycotts, Lewis and Co. at Bank of America will continue the secured credit card program, and will continue to target Latinos in the Los Angeles market.  “We feel we have a great obligation to live by the laws of the land, to serve our customers, and to do our part to support the security of our nation’s financial systems.”