B. o. A.: No Social Security Number: No Problem

In the country illegally? No problem. Don't have a social security number? That's no problem either. That seems to be the message that Bank of America is sending in a recent press announcement.

According to Reuters, all you have to do is have a Bank of America checking account open for 3 months and if you haven't bounced a check, you will probably get a credit card. Regardless of credit history or a social security number (generally required to open any bank account).

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp. has begun offering credit cards to customers without Social Security numbers, typically illegal immigrants, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.

In recent years, banks across the country have been offering checking accounts and even mortgages to the nation's fast-growing ranks of undocumented immigrants, most of whom are Hispanic, the paper said, adding these immigrants generally have not been able to get major credit cards.

The new Bank of America card is open to people who lack both a Social Security number and a credit history, as long as they have held a checking account with the bank for three months without an overdraft, the Journal said.

My concern here is obvious. Not only the issue of illegal immigration, but also terrorism and bank fraud. Say, I have bad credit history, so I create a false identity (bank fraud) so that I can get a new credit card. I think B. o. A. should rethink this plan.