In late October, as Superstorm Sandy’s fury began to wane, the Bank of America Charitable Foundation announced it would be donating $1 million to support relief efforts, including $500,000 to the American Red Cross Hurricanes 2012 fund. As relief efforts evolve in the coming weeks, the remaining $500,000 will be directed to national, regional and local nonprofits to support long-term recovery needs.
Over the weekend as the hurricane was bashing the Eastern seaboard, BofA activated its disaster relief program in areas designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. This included (among other things) the bank taking several precautions to protect employees, including closing facilities in affected states and asking staff to work from home as necessary/possible.
Under the company’s disaster relief program, BofA customers affected by severe storms and floods in Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., may qualify to:
- Receive credit line increases on their existing Bank of America Visa® card and MasterCard®.
- Modify or extend payments on loans, credit cards or lines of credit.
- Receive special assistance with lost, missing or late loan or card payments.
- Avoid early withdrawal penalties on bank certificates of deposit (CDs).
- Receive a refund on any overdraft, non-sufficient funds (NSF) and non-Bank of America ATM fees incurred as a result of storm conditions.
- Small businesses may also qualify for similar benefits on both business and personal loans.
Customers may access the program at any Bank of America banking center or by calling 1.855.729.1764. All Bank of America call centers, online banking and mobile banking continue to be available.
In addition, the Bank of America Charitable Foundation will match employee pledges to relief efforts through the bank’s Matching Gifts program and will not limit its overall relief donation.
“We have customers and employees throughout the hardest hit region and their safety is our main consideration,” said Brian T. Moynihan, CEO/BofA. “As we do what we can to help them through this, we also are doing our part to help get relief to communities affected.”