OMGNSF
Overdraft fees are in the news again, which prompted the industry to do some damage control:
Eighty-two percent of bank customers did not pay an overdraft fee in the previous twelve months, according to a new survey by the American Bankers Association. That figure is up two percent from 2008.
And:
“Once again, consumers have shown they can manage their bank accounts well and avoid paying fees,” said Nessa Feddis, ABA senior federal counsel and retail banking expert.
Of those who did pay an overdraft fee in the past 12 months, almost all (96 percent) said they were glad the payment was covered.
On the question of whether banks can manage their accounts well, Feddis was silent. Perhaps they threw TARP over her.
It occurred to me that I have no idea what would happen if I overdrew my checking account, and I’m not particularly interested in finding out. I opened this account in 1975; it’s survived through two bank mergers, one routing-code change, and the general disappearance of the abacus. During this time I can recall exactly one bounced check, though I can remember some fairly complicated between-account maneuvers over the years to keep this sort of thing from happening. I seem to recall, vaguely, that once they offered me (on their Web site, somewhere in the bill-paying process) some sort of “overdraft protection,” which I didn’t sign up for, so I assume if I exceed my actual balance, they’ll actually send the check back. There’s a fee for that, too, but there’s a fee for just about everything up to and including walking through the front door.
(Suggested by Don Mecoy.)
Donna B. »
13 September 2009 · 3:53 pm
Count me as one who is grateful for merely being charged an overdraft fee rather than have a check sent back.
I am payee for another person’s SS check. By the time I pay his rent, utilities, and provide cash to him for food etc., the account pretty much empties out every month.
When I was out of town, my husband needed checks and grabbed a book belonging to the payee account instead of our account. They are an identical design, but titled differently, of course.
He wrote three checks, all of which were paid (saving us personal embarrassment and returned check fees from businesses) but, of course, the payee account was seriously overdrawn.
As soon as I got the first letter notifying me of an overdraft, I called the bank and they were very helpful, but did not have actual copies of the checks written (that’s another gripe for another day.)
Anyway, as soon as we figured out what had happened, I thanked them profusely for paying the checks and immediately transferred money to the payee account to cover the checks and overdraft charges.
The bank rep OFFERED to submit a request asking that the overdraft charges be reversed. Of course I took her up on this, but did not expect them to be as this was obviously our fault. I was surprised when the charges were reversed. That truly amazed me.
I now store the checks in separate places and my husband knows to actually check and see if his name is on the check before writing it.