Bank of America announced they will stop charging overdraft fees on debit card purchases. If you don’t have enough money to buy the item, the transaction will be declined. [More]
overdraft fees
Wachovia Tricked Me Into Overdrafting
By 2.15.10
Sean is accusing Wachovia of using tricky online transaction posting that makes it difficult to tell when you’re in danger of slipping into the red. He says that although his account never appeared to be overdrawn, but he was still hit with overdraft charges thanks to funny accounting. He writes: [More]
Wachovia Flooded Me With So Many Overdraft Fees I Don't Know Whether To Sink Or Swim
By 2.12.10
Jared thought he had enough money in his Wachovia checking account to cover a mini-spending spree, but he found out soon after that he’d racked up big-time overdraft fees. Now he’s not sure whether or not he should pay Wachovia the money he owes or just cut and run and start over with a new account somewhere else. [More]
Banks Ring In 2010 With Exciting New Fees
By 1.2.10
New laws and rules affecting banks and credit card issuers go into effect soon, depriving them of their badly needed profits. Since sudden rate hikes and cascading overdraft fees are soon to be things of the past, bankers are busy formulating creative new fees. Here’s what you have to look forward to in the new year. [More]
Starting July 1, 2010 Overdraft Fees Will Require Consumer Consent
By 11.12.09
The Federal Reserve has announced a new rule requiring overdraft fees on one-time debit card transactions and ATM withdrawals to be “opt-in.” The new rule will take effect July 1, 2010. “The final overdraft rules represent an important step forward in consumer protection,” said Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke in a prepared statement. “Both new and existing account holders will be able to make informed decisions about whether to sign up for an overdraft service.”
Bank Of America Uses Temporary Hold To Trigger Overdraft Fee?
By 10.26.09
Bank of America got so fee crazy last week that it applied a $10 overdraft fee to Christopher’s account even though it wasn’t overdrafted. I went back and forth with Christopher to try to figure out what BoA could have done to trigger this, but as you can see from the screen cap below, he only had two debits on the day of the event.
How The Banking Industry Wants You To Think About Overdraft Fees
By 10.7.09
Earlier today, a public relations person sent in the following suggested “follow up” story about the explosion in overdraft fees. She was quite friendly and complimentary and made it clear she just wants to help educate consumers about banking fees. The only problem is, the entire story is a jumble of propaganda designed to spread FUD about any attempt to change current overdraft policies. We figured it might be fun to see how the banking industry wants you to think.
Overdraft Fees Up 35% In Past Two Years
By 10.6.09
As a nation, we pay more each year in overdraft fees than we do for books, cereal, or fresh vegetables, says the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL)—and considering how outrageously expensive cereal is, they must be talking about a huge sum. They are: “Banks and credit unions collected nearly $24 billion in overdraft fees last year, an increase of 35 percent from just two years earlier.”
Wells Fargo Also Pledges To Reduce Overdraft Fees
By 9.24.09
Chase and Bank of America aren’t the only ones suddenly growing pseudo-human faces and reducing their money-sucking overdraft policies. Today Wells Fargo squirted out a press release that says they “will eliminate overdraft fees for customers when they overdraw their accounts by $5 or less and will charge no more than four overdraft fees per day.”
BofA, Chase To Limit Overdraft Fees
By 9.23.09
Sometimes lawmakers can cause reform just by threatening legislation. That seems to be the case with Sen. Chris Dodd making Bank of America and Chase flinch by proposing legislation that would force banks to get customers’ permission to charge them overdraft fees.
Bank Piles On Overdraft Fees Due To Merchant Error, Doesn't Seem Too Keen On Refunding Them
By 9.10.09
Here’s a story from a reader about a bad bank practice that we hear about too frequently—a bank cascades hundreds of dollars worth of overdraft fees on an error that’s beyond the customer’s control, but then is unresponsive or uncooperative on refunding those fees.
Banks Cling To Overdraft Fees Because They Need Them To Survive
By 9.10.09
Banks now make more on debit card overdraft fees than credit card penalties—they’ll rake in about $27 billion in 2009 alone, according to the New York Times. They obviously have zero incentive to curb the practice. In fact, one economist told the paper that “45 percent of the nation’s banks and credit unions collect more from overdraft services than they make in profits.”
10% Of Consumers Pay 90% Of The Overdraft Fees
By 8.10.09
Banks are set to make a record $38.5 billion in overdraft fees, says a new report in the Financial Times, and the bulk of the money is coming from those who can least afford to lose it.
Chase Barrages Customer With Overdraft Fees
By 7.28.09
Just about everyone’s been smacked with an overdraft fee before, but Michael writes us about his partner who is drowning in a flood of such exploitative charges.
EECB Results In $525 Bank Of America Overdraft Fee Refund
By 6.29.09
Corey admits that he messed up. He was the one who didn’t keep as close track of his transactions as he should have, and overdrafted his account. It was Bank of America‘s policies, however, that resulted in his being hit with fifteen overdraft fees at $35 each, for a total of $525 over the course of a weekend. Corey knew that he was in the wrong, but thought that these fees were unfair, and also more than he could afford. So what did he do? He used what he’s learned from reading Consumerist to make his case to the people in charge.
Threat Of Small Claims Court Gets Wells Fargo Overdrafts Refunded
By 3.30.09
After he got some overdraft fees that he felt were unfair, Karney Hatch decided to put the banking system on trial, and make a documentary about it.
Man Pays $38 For Cup Of Coffee
By 3.27.09
Clifford Phillips paid $38 for a cup of coffee. Was it farmed on the moon? Nope, it was overdraft fees. [MSNBC] (Photo: Groovnick)
Stop Hungry Hungry Hippo Banks From Gobbling Your Bucks
By 3.25.09
Oh noes! The Hungry Hungry Hippo Banks are trying to gobble up your happy money fish! You only have 5 days left to get them to stop by writing the Fed and saying NO to banks default stuffing you into an overdraft fee programs. Send an email to regs.comments@federalreserve.gov with “Docket No. R-1343” in the subject line. Or you can use this online form.
