manual

Obtain the bank account

Bank of America (BofA) offers bank accounts; it is a global systematically important bank (GSIB). The instruction is to open a bank account in person. BofA owns many thousands of financial centers in the United States; this is the rationale for their use in this instruction set. BofA also allows bank accounts to be opened online. An alternative is a local credit union, an example being Holyoke Credit Union.

Required inputs

• government-issued identification (e.g. driver's license)
• second form of identification (e.g. credit or debit card)
• Social Security Number (SSN)
• phone number
• domain email address
• physical address in the United States
• form of payment for initial deposit (cash or check)

Instruction Set

• Schedule an appointment at a BofA financial center.
• Arrive at the financial center for the appointment.
  • With the BofA representative, open an Advantage Banking checking account, specifying a setting (e.g. Advantage Plus), hereinafter called the bank account.
    • Provide the representative with the government-issued identification card, SSN, physical address in the United States, phone number, and domain email address.
    • Set the bank account user id and password.
    • Set the bank account debit card PIN, hereinafter called the debit card.
    • Provide authorization signature for three actions: open the bank account, generate the debit card, and signature to be verified against for future actions.
    • Retrieve the Account Summary Information record from the representative as documentation.
  • Deposit initial amount into the bank account.
    • Input name, address, bank account number, date, and amount on the deposit slip.
    • Provide the teller with deposit slip and cash.
    • Retrieve the receipt from the teller as documentation.
• Verify the bank account online.
  • Log in to account using user id and password.
  • Confirm the domain email address.
  • Input the verification code sent to the domain email address.
  • Consent to the Electronic Communications Disclosure and Online Banking Service Agreement.
• Activate the debit card, after receiving it through mail.
  • Verify account number, expiration date, and security code.
  • Activate the debit card.