Comments on: Beware of Bank Overdraft Protection Fees

By: How to Protect Yourself from Debit Card Overdrafts

How to Protect Yourself from Debit Card Overdrafts — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 04:31:44 +0000

[...] banks were allowed to automatically enroll account holders in an overdraft protection plan. What many individuals didn’t realize was overdraft protection plans do not necessarily prevent [...]

By: erika

erika — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 00:54:53 +0000

if banks would simply post transactions in the order they happen and show an accurate reflection of the available balance, almost all overdrafts would be avoided. bank set their practices so its more likely that customers will incur more fees. using money that’s not theirs??? thats what the banks do by charging these outrageous fees!!! the way of the world is fraud and people like you support it. what the hell, be another corporate banking lackey.

By: Shiva Badruswamy

Shiva Badruswamy — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 19:23:27 +0000

Hello there:

I complained to the OCC (Office of comptroller and currency) about the high APRs associated with the overdraft protection fees of my Chase Checking account. We establish a credit line in the first place to ward off gaps in receipt and payment of funds. This is called working capital management. This is why we pay an interest rate in the first place. Why then charge a fee to access this credit? Also, I’d like to know if banks charge fees when withdrawing lines established through SBA guaranteed loans. I’d like to know if this is illegal. Perhaps I’ll write to the SBA and see if such fees are permitted on SBA guaranteed loans. Chase credited $20 back as a courtesy. What a scam!!!

By: michael

michael — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 05:11:17 +0000

Learn how the world works and stop complaining. All of these things are explained in that small brochure that came with your credit card. They send out updates all the time, but you do have to read them.

One would think that after one month with $40 in overdraft fees you would catch on and stop overdrafting. You are taking other peopels money and should be penalized so you will stop doing it. If the banks can’t cover their costs and make a profit on checking accounts, because they are not allowed to charge those who abuse their accounts by overdrafting, they will start charging everyone a checking account service fee every month like they use to. Let the irresponsible pay the freight, not the rest of us who don’t act like it’s a right to spend money we don’t have. What the hell, have another $35 latte.

By: Jennifer @ Money Saver 101

Jennifer @ Money Saver 101 — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 14:59:24 +0000

We use to have this problem as well. when we would overdraw, it was a $10.00 fee each time. The most irritating thing about it was that even if it was a mere $3, we’d have a $10 overdraft fee.

It happens a lot if you use a debit card. If you use it for ATM, debit and credit purchases, your balance isn’t always what you think it is unless you keep excellent records. Don’t rely on your online bank statement or ATM balance inquiry to tell you what you have. Keep a bank book and keep track of all your expenditures on that one card. Credit purchases don’t show up for a few days on your statements.

By: Budgets are Sexy

Budgets are Sexy — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 23:44:01 +0000

Yeah, you def. have to watch out sometimes but I’m still a huge fan of them. I guess it’s good for those who are really good at watching their money (or addicted like i am in checking all accounts every single day), because we do slip up at times no matter how we budget…and if you DO check your accounts daily, you can fix it up quicker

By: ARJIS

ARJIS — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 23:02:45 +0000

Maybe you owe the bank money for one of your kids accounts that was overdraft. If they pull that money out of your account, and it causes overdrafts because you weren’t notified they were going to take it out, get yourself an attorney. I did. The overdrafts were refunded to my account after my attorney wrote a nice letter notifying them to contact me on how they were going to resolve the issue. It didn’t cost me anything to call and explain the situation, and ask for assistance.

By: Rob Rubin

Rob Rubin — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 21:29:41 +0000

To me, overdraft transfer fees are particularly onerous because the bank is simply transferring money from one account to another (in the case when someone designates a savings account as their sweep account) or making money on accrued interest (in the case of an overdraft line of credit or when someone designates a credit card). Why pay $10 for each item? It’s a ripoff.

Other fees to watch out for include Debit Card PIN Purchase Fees and Non-Bank ATM Surcharges.

If anyone is interested, we have an free, unbiased comparison tool that estimates the fees you can expect to pay based on how you bank (no personal information required).

FindABetterBank

Rob

By: Keith

Keith — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 13:46:46 +0000

There’s something else to BEWARE of at PNC bank. My daughter found this out the hard way. It seems that her account became overdrawn by using her ATM card. The ATM machine still let her withdraw money even though she had a negative balance in her account! Upon calling the bank she discovered that is how they have things set up. She didn’t know this and it wasn’t discussed when she opened her account. Her previous bank would not allow money to be withdrawn from the ATM if there was a negative balance. Each time she withdrew money she was charged the overdaft fee.