Bank of America Chicago Marathon

The same race that had such disaster last fall recently had a change of sponsors: LaSalle Bank out, Bank of America in. Maybe LaSalle wanted out after the debacle and Bank of America saw a discounted pick-up.

Now comes word that Bank of America is running after Exxon for the "jerkiest corporation" award. From Crooks & Liars:

Credit-card issuers have drawn fire for jacking up interest rates on cardholders who aren’t behind on payments, but whose credit score has fallen for another reason. Now, some consumers complain, Bank of America (BAC) is hiking rates based on no apparent deterioration in their credit scores at all. . . The major credit-card lender in mid-January sent letters notifying some responsible cardholders that it would more than double their rates to as high as 28%, without giving an explanation for the increase, according to copies of five letters obtained by BusinessWeek. Fine print at the end of the letter—headed “Important Amendment to Your Credit Card Agreement”—advised calling an 800-number for the reason, but consumers who called say they were unable to get a clear answer. “No one could give me an explanation,” says Eric Fresch, a Huron (Ohio) engineer who is on time with his Bank of America card payments and knows of no decline in the status of his overall credit.

Just what the Chicago Marathon needs--more bad association.