Comments on: Overdraft Fees Becoming More Popular

By: Congress Will Attempt to Fix Abusive Bank Policies on Consumerism Commentary: A Personal Finance Blog

Mon, 30 Jul 2007 12:09:56 +0000

[...] this month, I wrote about how overdraft fees are becoming more popular with banks finding ways to assess the fees more often, in tandem with raising what the customer [...]

By: 70 Tidbits and Tips on Personal Finance - The 109th Carnival of Personal Finance - “First Post” Edition »

Mon, 16 Jul 2007 14:54:04 +0000

[...] Overdraft Fees Becoming More Popular from Consumerism Commentary. Flexo writes about how banks are making increasing amounts of money off of their customers by being sneaky about it. Flexo’s first post: 7/16/2003. [...]

By: Telemill

Telemill — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 02:23:58 +0000

Hey, some of these banks are playing around with these accounts — I feel — just to charge some of these fees.

I won’t name names but a bank I had used for over 8 years began playing around with my account.

We all know about the “instant” withdrawal of funds from our account the minute we write a check and the bank’s lax “three-day” float period on money deposited. Now, seriously, if you can take my money out of my account 5 minutes after I write a check . . . surely, you can credit my account in a 24 hour period, right? Their answer: nope.

So, here is the deal. Had a credit card balance of over $10K. Worked by BUTT of to acquire the money to pay it off. Had $13K in the bank (for several weeks). Wrote a check to pay off the entire $10K on the credit card. The credit card company calls to say that my payment didn’t go through. What the . . .

I call the bank. Their response: Oh! Didn’t you know, we changed the terms recently where you have to “notify” us five days before you make a large payment like that. What the . . .

My response: You mean I have to actually notify you to take MY money out of MY account and pay MY bills? Needless to say, I paid the bill . . . had the bank paid my insufficient fund fees (because, damn it that wasn’t my fault, I had the got-damn money) and closed the account two weeks later.

They (the banks)are playing around with us and our money, guys. And they are making grand-theft dough on us. Dang-it, I gotta get me some bank stock.

By: Cash Money Life - A Personal Finance Blog with a Salute to the Military » This Week in Personal Finance - My Favorite Blog Posts

Sat, 14 Jul 2007 15:00:20 +0000

[...] Commentary – Overdraft Fees Becoming More Popular. Flexo lays down the process for overdraft fees and how they work. When multiple debits occur on [...]

By: Flexo

Flexo — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 13:24:09 +0000

Jason: If you’ve had an account for many years, then the account terms presented when you opened the account most likely no longer apply. Banks often change their terms on their accounts. One must read all the notices the bank sends in order to catch these changes… many people don’t.

I don’t think this is a case of a news organization giving large companies a “black eye,” but it could have been a slow news day.

By: Jason

Jason — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 13:05:01 +0000

Why are people suddenly “discovering” this and reacting to it? In all honesty it’s likely because it was a slow news day and a large news organization thought it would be a good day to try to give large companies another black eye.

That being said, if this comes as a suprise to you then you apparently didn’t find the time to read your account agreement when you opened your account. If you don’t want the fees you can request that your financial institution not process overdrafts and then you can pay the bounced check charge to the retailer (in some cases that is a $50 charge). Of course balancing your checkbook might take care of the issue.