I mentioned in previous posts that the best way to transfer money between two accounts you own at different institutions is by an ACH push. Wire transfers are faster but there’s usually a fee for sending and/or receiving a wire. Most banks don’t charge a fee for an ACH push. The money from an ACH push is available immediately at the receiving end and you avoid getting your account flagged for fraud. See ACH Push or Pull: The Right Way to Transfer Money and Follow This Rule to Avoid Getting Your Account Restricted for Fraud.
Bank of America is the second largest bank in the U.S. after JPMorgan Chase. It has a good credit card rewards program (see Bank of America Travel Rewards Card Pays 2.625% on Everything). However, some parts of its online banking interface can be a little tricky to figure out. Here’s a walkthrough on how to link another account for ACH push out of Bank of America.
Enroll in Secured Transfer
Secured Transfer at Bank of America means adding a mobile phone number or a hardware security key to authorize transfers. If you don’t enroll in Secured Transfer, your transfers may be limited to $1,000 per day. You can transfer $50,000 or more in one go after you enroll in Secured Transfer.
Click on “Security Center” on the top and then “Set up two-factor authentication.”
Scroll down to find “Additional security features” in the “Increase your device security” box. Click on the link next to it. Mine says “Review” because I already set it up. The link may say something else if you don’t have it yet.
The first option uses a mobile phone number to receive security codes. The second option uses a hardware security key such as a Yubikey. If you already have a Yubikey, it’s better to use your existing Yubikey. You can register multiple Yubikeys. If you don’t have a Yubikey, it’s worth buying at least two Yubikeys and using them to secure your financial accounts and email accounts. See Security Hardware for Vanguard, Fidelity, and Schwab Accounts and Secure Your Email Account to Prevent Wire Fraud.
If you don’t want to use a Yubikey, a mobile phone number also works but it’s less secure.
Add External Account
After you enroll in Secured Transfer, click on “Pay & Transfer” and then “Send a wire/external transfer.”
Click on the “Add Account/Recipient” tab. Select “Domestic” and “My personal account at another bank (only transfers to).” Selecting “only transfers to” means you will use this link only to push money from Bank of America to the external account. To push money from your other account to Bank of America, you would add the Bank of America account as a linked account at your other bank.
Selecting “only transfers to” is important when you’re linking a brokerage account such as a Fidelity account. If you select “both transfers from and to” Bank of America will ask you to log in online to prove that you own the external account. You can’t pass this verification because your brokerage account isn’t with the bank that owns the routing number. No such verification is required if you select “only transfers to.”
Enter the routing number and the account number of your other account. Here I’m showing the routing number owned by UMB Bank that Fidelity uses for ACH transfers. Adding an external account for “only transfers to” doesn’t require verification. You should make sure to enter the correct routing number and account number.
The “Add Account” button isn’t enabled until you check the box to verify your identity. Bank of America will ask for the Yubikey or the security code sent to the number you set up in Secured Transfer.
Send an ACH Push
Sending an ACH only works in online banking. Bank of America’s mobile app doesn’t support it.
Click on “Pay & Transfer” and then “Send a wire/external transfer.”
Choose the source and destination accounts. Bank of America used to charge $3 for slow ACH. Now it’s free and the transfer arrives on the next business day if you request it before 8 p.m. Eastern Time. Bank of America will ask you to use your Yubikey or the security code to confirm the transfer when you’re sending a large amount.
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Barbara says
Maybe you could help me with an issue I have with BOA credit card. Our checking acct is at USAA and I love the bill pay feature. The only problem I have is with trying to autopay the BOA credit card. When I try to setup automatic payment, it says “ebill is already set up. ” USAA told me to delete the info and start it as a new biller–no change. The only thing I can figure is that I setup BOA for paperless settings and I receive 2 emails from them monthly: one that says I have a new bill from BOA and the other that my statement is ready. I have turned off paperless statements but that didn’t help. I don’t see an option for turning off paperless bills. Should I just setup BOA to automatically draft my checking account and be done with it?
Harry Sit says
Log in to Bank of America’s website. Click on “Pay & Transfer” at the top and then “Make a Payment” under the “Bill Pay” heading. If you see your credit card listed there as a bill in the Payment Center, look to see whether you have “eBills ON” at the bottom right of the listing. If so, click on eBills and then you’ll see an option to cancel eBills. After canceling ebill in Bank of America, you can set up ebill in USAA again.
Barbara says
Thanks for your reply. I did as you suggested and, when I got to the bill pay section, it asked me to confirm my email to setup bill pay. Then it asked me to accept terms of service so I assume this means I am not enrolled in ebill? This makes sense since I have to login to website each month to get my statement. Should I go ahead and setup under bill pay and cancel ebill?
Harry Sit says
You said you receive an email monthly that says you have a new bill from Bank of America. The email I receive looks like this:
From: Bank of America (billpay [at] billpay.bankofamerica.com)
Subject: You have a new online bill from Bank of America Credit Card
Content:
Bank of America logo
A circle with a dollar sign and an arrow pointing to the right
You have a new online bill from Bank of America Credit Card
Account Number: ************xxxx
Due Date: xx/xx/xxxx
Total Minimum Payment Due: $ xx.00
Statement Balance: $ x,xxx.xx
“View of Pay” button
If the email you receive looks like this, click on the “View or Pay” button in the email and see where it leads you after you log in. Doing that in my email puts me in the Payment Center where I can cancel eBill if I want to set it up elsewhere. If your email looks different, it may also have a similar “View or Pay” button. Clicking on that may lead you to where the email comes from and give you an option to cancel the ebill in order to set it up with USAA.
Clement says
I am unable to set up the ACH transfer to my brokerage account at Fidelity. I get to the ‘Add Account’ step which gives an error stating that the ‘Account Number’ and ‘Re-enter Account Number’ fields are not identical. I have tried this several times and don’t believe I have entered the account number wrongly.
I am fairly new to Fidelity, so it’s certainly possible I’m misinterpreting something about my Fidelity account number (which starts with a ‘Z’, so it’s not really a number.
Harry Sit says
You need to get the account number for ACH from Fidelity. Click on the “routing number” link under the account name in the right pane on Fidelity’s website. It’s a 17-digit number. All numbers, no letter.
Clement says
This worked, thank you.