I've been a Bank of America customer for ~13 years and have maintained the same accounts during that period. I currently have a checking and savings account with them and have two credit cards (one low-limit "college card" I use infrequently at best, and one much higher-limit card I use for bills & cashback benefits). I've had good experiences with them and have kept all my personal accounts with them for the convenience of management.
I got a message tonight notifying me that my savings account alone has been sold to a much smaller local bank. The transfer of the account is to complete in mid-August. I've never dealt with an account transfer of this nature and I'd honestly prefer not to deal with accounts split across multiple institutions - there's too much worry about fees & transfer procedures for me to sleep well at night. I don't deal with the local branch and do all my banking online, so it doesn't bother me to be a couple hours' drive from the nearest office.
I reached out to BofA but their support reps have no clue how the sale works. At this point, my question is twofold:
1) Is there a standard procedure to these sorts of sales that lets me "opt out" or switch into a new savings account with BofA, or was I sold based on zip code and effectively blacklisted from savings accounts?
2) If the account is fin, what steps should I take in moving my business to another bank? How can I minimize damage to my credit from switching card providers? Am I just overreacting for nothing here?
Thanks in advance for any advice. Being paranoid about my credit and banking has served me well thus far, so maybe this is just a good opportunity to review my providers and choose better!