New law on ATM overdraft fees goes into effect this weekend.

Originally posted by thisguyrighthere
reply to post by EnlightenUp

 

Not Chase. .... So it was the local bank that was trying to sell me on overdraft.

What you wrote sounded just like the Chase stuff I was getting, that's why I asked.

I wouldnt be surprised to find out that the local bank is just a small part of some giant national bank though.

Hmmm...localized fronts for (inter)national megabanks. Hmmm.

I opted out for my checking account.

I don't need accidental overage protection. I did have a scare happen a few months ago though, was charged for something with not quite enough to cover it. Luckily it was still an authorization and I was able to run to the bank and put some money in to cover it.

I know people who rack up alot of overdraft hits, usually a couple here and there. They usually shrug it off like it's nothing. I just shake my head. It's a viscious cycle, and the banks know and love this.

[edit on 12-8-2010 by Judohawk]

The behavior of banks in this area torques me like no other. Part of me wishes a RICO investigation would begin against them. Include the FEderal Reserve system in that as well.

I remember trying to opt of of their courtesy of processing my largest drafts
first, instead of order of arrival.

The schmuck on the other end of the line was all sugar and sweet, "We
provide this service because we have found that most customers would
prefer their larger debits, (like mortgage payments or rent payments),
clear first."

I said, "Well thank you for your courtesy, but I would rather have my
debits clear in the order that they were received, so that I am only charged
one over-draft fee instead of five."

After a bit more of a go-nowhere conversation I said, "Okay, I'll pay these
over-drafts, but in the future I want my transactions to post as they occur.
While I appreciate your bank's courtesy, I don't require it or want it."

His reply..."Sorry, it's policy."

Me...."Is it a courtesy, or policy?"

Him..."Well, it's both we..."

Me...."Nevermind...do me a favor."

Him...."Yes."

Me...."Is your supervisor or a bank executive near you?

Him..."Yes."

Me..."Call him over please...and when he gets there pull his underwear up
over his head and tell him it is a courtesy from me."

and I hung up...

true story

Originally posted by jam321
I opted in.

The way I understood the option was that if I opted out they would basically freeze my account at a certain amount to ensure I don't go over.

I don't know about others, but sometimes I need every dime I have in my account.

[edit on 12-8-2010 by jam321]

Whew, ain't that the truth. People are broke these days. I know i am lol.
Gotta feed Roo. But don't worry, they don't freeze the account. It's just if you attempt to make a purchase you will be declined (assuming you don't have enough moola) or it will be bounced back to the person who tried to authorize it. Then you are to take care of the negative with them. Kind of like a bounced check.

I'm quite sure the banks will just find another way to make up for lost revenue that kicks people in the proverbial balls. Such as, minimum balance fees, check writing fees, sneezing fees etc.



[edit on 12-8-2010 by antonia]

I had the luxury of learning first hand how Centier runs their "overdraft protection." Before I was fired a couple of days ago my pay day was every Monday. One particular week I went into centier as usual to deposit my check and just use my debit card as usual, withdrew some money from the ATM, bought gas and cigarettes, didn't use money that i was lacking. By Thursday i receive my statement which said my account was overdrawn on Monday and Tuesday, and three or four different times, $35 dollars everytime it was overdrawn, and my paycheck wasn't deposited into my account until Wednesday. If they weren't so quick to correct the 'mistake' I wouldn't have left until they gave me the amount of money they were going to try and steal from me.

Thank you to whomever gave me my 11th flag on this thread...I now have 50, and am now a "SOLID" contributor.

Laurels and hearty handshakes all around!

Oh, and banks are evil. Gotta keep it on topic.

My local bank chewed my mom out about overdraft fees, because we deposited a check on Saturday and went shopping on Sunday. On monday they called and us said we were very overdrawn. The reason is that they require 2 buisness days to process the transaction because they have to get the money from the Fed reserve if I remember right. So I guess the moral is you have to wait even after a legitimate deposit.

I got a letter from my bank a few months ago. Went on their website and opted out. Haven't heard from them since. Glad they're not bugging me like some other banks apparently are.

I feel that overdraft fees are out of control. If I spend $10, for example, my overdraft fee is technically 240% interest. If I spend $200, the $34 charge seems more reasonable.

Perhaps some reasonable percentage would be in order, like 5% OR $34, which ever is less, that way there is a reasonable "cap". I would opt in if that were the case, but it's not...

My personal issue with the system is the same with all other systems, they penalize the poorer of us.

What happens if you have trouble making ends meet? Make it HARDER still by taking away more money.

What happens when I can't make my semester charge on time, the university charges an additional $100 plus other fees, making it just that much HARDER to get the bill paid.

This is perhaps the most ridiculous and illogical aspect of our system.

Originally posted by Sphota
I feel that overdraft fees are out of control. If I spend $10, for example, my overdraft fee is technically 240% interest.

It's like one of those odious "Payday Loan" places. Loan sharking is illegal, but this exploitation is just good business. Sickening.

My bank tried so hard to get me to accept this "service." Had to argue to opt out. Sure sometimes I am embarrassed when a 5 buck charge at a fast-food place is declined, but better that than a whopping overdraft fee.

This is a good example of why we need government regulation. No banks were offering this until the government put a gun to their head and told them they had to do it. And to all you libertarians and Obama haters out there, just so you know, he's the one that signed this bill. The billionaires may not like it but the people living pay check by pay check will save hundreds of dollars. And I have been ripped off way more by corporations than the government has ever ripped me off.

My cousin bought a few $0.99 apps for his iPhone the other day and was promptly charged 5x$34 or $170 in overdraft fees for a total of $4.95 purchase. A simple "transaction denied" would've been most appreciated.

Last year, the bank made a mistake and charged an account a substantial size mortgage payment 4 times, completely depleting that account. I wasn't informed and was billed 13 overdraft charges that day for THEIR screw up. Some of this stuff makes your head spin. It was way overdue that this policy disappear.

Originally posted by mothershipzeta
Bank customers get break from ATM overdraft fees

Beginning Sunday, banks and credit unions no longer can approve and charge penalty fees for one-time debit-card purchases that exceed customers' account balances unless the account holders have agreed to "opt in," or accept overdraft coverage.
...

For years, banks simply had denied these transactions. However, by allowing them to go through without the cardholders' consent and charging $34 for the "service," standard or "courtesy overdraft coverage" reels in more than $10 billion in debit card fees each year, the center estimates.

Even better, when debiting a day's transactions from your account, some banks (such as Bank of America) will actually make sure to process your biggest payments (checks and debit cards) first, regardless of when they came in, so they can deplete your account quickly and ding you for as many overdrafts as possible. AND, if you've had a few overdrafts, they'll put a hold on future deposits for as long as a week. That way, they won't hit your account and as a result you get even MORE overdrafts.

A 2008 survey by the FDIC found that 81 percent of banks allowed overdrafts on debit card transactions and ATM withdrawals, but only 8 percent informed customers of their cash shortfalls before the debit card transactions occurred. Only 23 percent did so on ATM withdrawals. Advance notice would have allowed customers to cancel the transactions and avoid the fees.

It is truly sad that so many personal, corporate and banking fortunes are made by simply manipulating money while contributing nothing to society. At least this is a step in the right direction.


[edit on 8/12/10 by mothershipzeta]

Bank of America committed fraud with my name and it's because of this I can't get a bank account.

At a young age I was ran through the ringer by the scheme ran by the banks. I know exactly what you're talking about, I used to hash it out all the time with them you know.

"How can the holder of my money charge me funds beyond what the bank already knows I do not have and then goes so far as to keep penalizing me until that balance is met?"

I could understand if this was a world where banks weren't so intricately woven into the tapestry of our society but actually we live in a place where money is only safe in the protection of banks. How is that, that honestly scares me. I have no bank account my money is hidden, I have no other option. For banks to place this imposition on us, for the time it had been practiced, was surely unjust and I believe banks should be taken to the courts. I don't believe they will though becase of how much they control, so I guess I'll just sit down and shut up...

Originally posted by Sherlock Holmes
I think it's a shame that people are so irresponsible and negligent with their money, that they have to even introduce this.

For all the talk about rich, immoral banks ( justifiably ), we don't exactly do ourselves any favours by giving them free money in the form of overdraft fees and getting penalised for carrying out transactions with money we don't have.

If people kept track of how much money they had in their account and avoided needless credit, then the bankers wouldn't be quite so rich !

I disagree with this statement. Why? Here's why...

When I use my card for a purchase it immediately shows up as pending transactions. A SINGLE day later, that charge is no longer in pending or posted transactions. It's just gone.

They purposely try to get people to go over their balance. It's one thing if they didn't, it's another thing when they purposely try to get people to go over.

I'm no saint as I like to party hard. Sometimes I forget if I used my card or not. But if I pop onto the online banking then it makes sense why my balance is low. What they do is BANK on you forgetting you spent any money that night. Then pop on to check your balance but it's really not your actual balance. They BANK on that!

Again, it's one thing if I go over all on my own. It's another thing when they bait people to go over.

[edit on 12-8-2010 by Come Clean]

This is got to be the best news I have heard all day! No more predatory lending through "fees" and that other ridiculous idea called "overdraft protection".

"Here let me pick up that $2.00 for you. Don't worry- that courtesy will only cost you $36.00."

Here's another thing. My bank tells me they don't post transactions over the weekend. WHY?

It's all electronic....there is no person sitting behind a terminal approving or dissaproving weekend transactions. There is no person that does that nowadays. It's all electronic! Even checks they run through some kind of machine to see if you have the money.

It's all electronic folks....they tell me they need the receipt from the store to POST transactions as complete.

WHY? If I use my card or use a check, then the store's machine called the bank to see if I had the money or not. The bank say's YES or NO. Why isn't that transaction IMMEDIATELY posted? Then, if the receipt doesn't get there in a certain amount of time then they refund my money. Then the store is just out of luck at that point.

These guys are crooks. Don't get me wrong, there is a certain percentage of us who abuse the system. But there is a HUGE percentage of people who only check the account if their card gets denied. Or it's the end of the month and bills are coming due.

That's the only time they checked. And the banks BANK on that. They bank on the people who simply don't check until it's too late.

I would support a tiered system.

But how is a 1 dollar overdraft the same as a 100 dollar overdraft? How is that the same fee?

A 1 dollar overdraft over should be 10 cents. 100 dollars over should be 10 bucks. 1000 bucks should be 100 bucks. Basically, 10% of the charge. That's double the national interest rate.

Or just don't do overdraft protection.

I blame Bush and Reagan. This stuff didn't happen until their watch.

Here's another thing. The average interest rate on a savings account is 1% or less. So if I had 10K in my savings account they are paying me 1% for the use of my 10K. They invest my money because they know it's protected by TAX PAYER money.

But here's the rub.

If I borrowed 10K they would charge me more than 1% in interest rates.

Point being this, investments made 10% on it's returns this year. They make a cool 9% profit on my savings account for basically doing nothing.