Bank of America wants to do what?!?!

I hadn't even thought about the governments part in this. Thanks for bringing it to light. And you are probably right about the Bush administration and Republicans, this is just another thing to think about election time.

Thank you for your comment. I agree with some of what you are saying, but not all of it. Government is involved. The current administation is offering incentives for banks to extend credit to illegal immigrants in the hopes that it will create some sort of indirect amnesty and ingrain them into our system. And I'm not trying to pick on hispanics, but it is incredibly frustrating when the insurance agency I work for tells me that I have to learn Spanish if I plan on getting a raise this year because nobody in the office speaks it and we are turning away alot of Hispanic business. This is not the companies policy, but the individual agent I work for. Which on one hand great, I write all these Spanish speaking policies, I get the commission, etc..but who services these clients when I'm not in the office? I'm sorry for getting off subject, I'm just tired of seeing the problems of American citizens getting taken care while it appears the powers that be are bending over to help illegals.

WHAT!?! The government is not involved in this at all, and rightfully so. First off, I understand your concern and disgust. You feel that as a citizen of the US you should not be penalized. You feel that not using a person's credit score is unethical. Unfortunately for you, but fortunately to everyone else in the world, businesses and individuals both are protected by the US government in that they are allowed to do whatever they want as long as it is within the law. As such, it is a business's responsibility, large or small, to make decisions that it feels will best cause the business to be profitable, preferably, while still being ethical. In this particular situation, the bank must choose for each potential customer (1) if they will extend the customer credit, (2) how much credit they will extend, and (3) what interest rate and other fees will be charged. When you go into the bank, the bank runs a credit check. Why? It is the easiest/cheapest way for the bank to assess risk. A credit score has been shown by all three bureaus to accurately account for an increase in risk. The bank wants to know the likelihood of getting its money back. I apologize if you disagree with how the bureaus calculate their scores. I know I do. I have had a lower score lately even though I have paid all of my debts, on time, for years. Why? Because I requested credit from multiple institutions in the last year. That's it. It dropped my score by ~50 points. Then, because I used the credit supplied me, my score dropped another 75 points. So, I learned a little more about how the credit scores were calculated. Anyway, why does a bank want to know a person's risk? Duh, so they can answer the three questions above. Well, let's pretend for a moment that there is not credit score for anyone. Does that mean that banks cannot make money off of loaning out money? NO! What it means is that they have to make assumptions of what that score might be. In other words, they consider everyone to have a score of, let's say 600. So, the bank's answers to the three questions above are (a) yes they can get a line of credit, (b) the line needs to be relatively small, and (c) the interest rate needs to be relatively high. I am 100% positive that this is what Bank of America has in mind. They will likely give the illegal immigrants in question a line of credit in the $500 range with an interest rate of ~24%. So, the only question is whether their actions are either illegal or unethical. Obviously, you feel that they are. I am pretty sure that they are not illegal. But, are they unethical. The answer could be yes. If you are suggesting that businesses should not do business with illegals because they are illegally here; they should instead call the police, that is understandable, at least at first glance. Initially, I agreed with you. But, if a bank does this, how many illegal aliens does it send back? The answer is 0, at least on a regular basis. But, if instead it follows what BofA is suggesting, that bank can help those people whom it is giving a card, yes. Also, it helps its stock holders, who are likely citizens, by the way. Also, it can help local businesses. It has been shown that consumers buy more with a card than with cash. So, the only benefit it is giving the illegal alien is actually one of convenience. But, the real economic benefit goes to the others involved, most, if not all, of which are US citizens. I understand your disgust. But, good business is good business is better for America.

I am so glad I am not the only one getting upset about this. I literally become at a loss for words when I think about this. I am assuming credit cards are a worldwide thing. Isn't Visa's slogan "It's everywhere you want to be?" Let them apply for credit in their own country, that way when the bill isn't paid my interest rate isn't getting driven up to compensate. I realize that there are irresponsible American citizens too, but at least they are citizens. When is the US and the businesses in it going to start worrying about what goes on inside our own borders?