When Bank of America issued Jorge’s credit card in 1998, for some reason that remains unclear, the card was issued in the name of “Jorge [Lastname] Sr.” Jorge doesn’t have a son named Jorge Junior, and there’s no reason why the account should be set up that way, but Bank of America assured him that this wouldn’t be a problem. And it wasn’t. Until he needed an emergency cash advance, and couldn’t prove to the unfamiliar branch’s satisfaction that he hadn’t, say, stolen his dad’s credit card.

I recently went to Bank of America in [redacted] and wanted to withdraw money from a credit card I have with them. It was an emergency and I needed $300 immediately to pay a settlement on a lawsuit. I went in and they did not believe I was who i said I was. The main reason, the card says I am “Jorge [Lastname] Sr” instead of just “Jorge [Lastname]”. I showed them 2 forms of I.D. and showed that I have another credit card with them with my name and that I’ve made successful payments and charges for the past 5 years, and to no avail. I called the number on the back and they couldn’t prove that I was Jorge [Lastname] “Sr” even though there is no one else in my family with that name, and the social security numbers and state i.d. match.

Eventually I had to go back inside and have a specialist call headquarters and then compare notes about all my accounts, payments, and history, and only then would anyone agree to let me have money from the account that I’ve had since 1998.

I got the money but was told by the branch manager and teller that they didn’t believe I was Jorge [Lastname] “Sr” and that next time they would not give me money.

I can’t get away from the company, as I owe money, but as soon as I become debt free, I’m ditching the bank.

This is why it’s good to know your daily ATM withdrawal limit, as long as the fees and interest rates don’t differ from taking out that cash advance from a bank.

What Jorge should do, though, is check his credit report to make sure that his information isn’t mixed up with that of any Jorge Seniors out there in the world–differing Social Security numners or no.

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