Bank of the West usually offers a bonus for signing up for a checking account, one of the additional benefits is that you can fund a small amount with a credit card ($500). Unfortunately at some stage these charges started being charged as a cash advance with no notice. Bank of the West has sent out a letter to affected account holders stating that a credit of $25 has been applied (less if the full $500 wasn’t charged to a credit card) due to the lack of disclosure about this charge being a cash advance.
Personally I love to see this level of customer service, I don’t think Bank of the West was under any obligation to provide a refund or disclosure about it coding as a cash advance (as it is a cash equivalent) but it speaks volumes about how they like to treat customers that they decided to provide this credit. It’s pointless to offer these types of sign up incentives if the actual product isn’t competitive and I’m sure this will see some customers making Bank of the West their primary deposit account.
Hat tip to Wyle_Coyote
