On February 14, KDVR Fox 31 Good Day Colorado co-anchor Ken Clark misleadingly reported that Bank of America is offering a “credit card specifically for illegal immigrants.” Later in the broadcast, co-anchor Steve Kelley further reported that "[t]he cards are being marketed to, they say, illegal immigrants." In fact, while illegal immigrants might be among those who qualify for the new credit card, Bank of America did not “specifically” create it for them. Rather, according to a February 14 article in The Los Angeles Times, the company has stated that the card primarily is for “people who lack solid credit histories.”

From the February 14 broadcast of KDVR Fox 31's Good Day Colorado:

CLARK: There's a new credit card specifically for illegal immigrants. The Bank of America is now offering credit cards to customers without a Social Security card and without a credit history. But they must have a checking account with the bank for three months without an overdraft. Now, the program has been tested in Los Angeles and it was recently expanded to 51 other branches. Bank of America hopes to roll out the program nationally a little bit later this year.

[...]

KELLEY: Plus, coming up at 7 o'clock, at least one credit card company is changing the way it does business, all to accommodate illegal immigrants. Is that fair? Stick around for the story.

[...]

KELLEY: Proof that credit card companies are willing to make and take money from anyone: Bank of America is now offering credit cards to customers without a Social Security number and without a credit history. The cards are being marketed to, they say, illegal immigrants. All they need to do is have a good checking -- have a checking account with a bank for three months without an overdraft. The program has been tested in Los Angeles. Bank of America hopes to roll out the program nationally later this year.

But as the Times reported on February 14, “The [Bank of America] credit cards are not aimed specifically at illegal immigrants, a bank spokeswoman said, but instead people who lack solid credit histories.” The Times further reported:

Bank of America spokeswoman Alexandra C. Trower said the company complied fully with all banking and anti-terrorism laws governing customer identification, which she said permitted the use of taxpayer ID numbers instead of Social Security numbers.

Bank executives said participants needed another form of identification, such as ID cards issued by foreign consulates. Applicants must also have had a Bank of America checking account for at least three months.

William P. Cook, former general counsel of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, said the bank's program was neither illegal nor problematic.

“It's sad that such a forward-thinking move is being mischaracterized as if it were an improper activity,” said Cook.

The Charlotte Observer similarly reported on February 14 that Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America is “testing a credit card in Los Angeles that doesn't require a credit history. The cards could be popular with illegal immigrants, who find it difficult to build up a credit record otherwise.” The Observer added, “Like with other accounts offered by U.S. banks, customers who use the new credit card need to prove their identity using a government-issued document. But they don't have to provide proof of immigration status or necessarily need a Social Security number”:

Customers can get the card if they already have a checking account with the bank that's in good standing for three months. It comes with an upfront fee and a higher-than-average interest rate that can exceed 21 percent.

The bank said the program follows U.S. Patriot Act requirements that banks “know their customers,” an effort to thwart money laundering and financial conduits to terrorists launched after Sept. 11. To get the necessary checking account for the card, the bank requires a Social Security number, an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) or other proof of identification, including matricula consular documents issued by the Mexican government.

Fox 31's report followed a February 13 Wall Street Journal article (accessed through the newspaper's electronic edition) that reported Bank of America's decision to “quietly” begin offering “credit cards to customers without Social Security numbers -- typically illegal immigrants.”

As Colorado Media Matters noted, in discussing the Bank of America credit card program on February 13, 630 KHOW-AM host Peter Boyles and his guest, right-wing author Jerome Corsi, used the opportunity to make ethnic slurs about Mexicans and Mexican-Americans.