Bank making changes to encourage
proper use of government travel cards
Stars and Stripes
Bank of America will soon use new but unsurprising motivation to get you to play nice
with government travel cards: More fees.
According to Michael Weber, Air Force travel card coordinator, a revised cardholder
deal between the bank and the Defense Department kicks in come August. With it arrives
more incentive to pay cards off fast and avoid cash advances.
The changes include:
- A penalty of $29 for payments received 75 days past the closing date listed on the
statement in which the charge first appeared.
- A $20 fee for expedited delivery of cards, which can be claimed on your travel voucher.
The bank will charge nothing for emergency replacement of cards that were lost, stolen or
damaged while traveling.
- A $29 penalty for returned checks.
- For cash advances, a fee of $2 per transaction or 3 percent of the transaction amount,
whichever is greater.
- Reduce credit lines on restricted and standard cards consistent with travel needs.
Weber said that most people already use their cards responsibly, and the fee most
likely to be felt will be from cash advances. His advice: steer clear of the bank machine.
"We encourage cardholders to use the card as much as possible and avoid using the
ATM for cash advances to pay expenses that should be charged directly to the card,"
he said.
Bank of America will include the revised terms and agreement policy in its July
statements, Weber said. Cardholders should expect to see the new cardholder agreement in
the mail around July 7 to 9. It is only a notice and cardholders don’t need to reply.
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