Phil Town said that Melissa has had an account at B of A since early 2002. Melissa deposits a check every month and for every month since she opened the account 8 years ago, she was always able to write checks immediately against the check she deposited and the bank would cash them. However, according to Phil Town, last month the bank told Melissa that they would no longer allow her to get cash right after her deposits. They were going to hold the check for about a week until it was taken off of “hold” status.

What happened to Bank of America? Why did Bank of America demand its branch managers to gather in the ‘float’ at the cost of losing some accounts to more customer friendly banks. (‘Float’ is cash the bank has in its accounts that it doesn’t own. Melissa’s money belongs to her and she should have complete access to her funds. What B of A does is they cash the check immediately and sit on that money for several days during which time it can lend it out short term. Any money, even a very small amount which makes them interest with no cost is pure profit.)

So why would a RULE #1 investor want to own this kind of business? Phil Town say’s you don’t want to own Bank of America because it sucks! He says “No. Hell, no. I don’t want to own businesses that screw the little guy, I don’t care how much money they make. Screw them. We’re moving all our accounts to BB&T. I love their attitude.”