U.S. banks will collect a record $38.5 billion in overdraft fees this year

reply to post by dariousg


Sorry, just read your post. I stated the same thing.

I'm tired of the "sorry, I don't make bank policy" highest amount first BS!

Has the "reclaim your bank charges" epidemic not reached America yet?
Here in the UK, thousands of people have succesfully reclaimed their charges because they are deemed unfair/unlawful.
We can claim up to 6 years of charges back. I have done it myself.
After totting up the bank had 'stolen' £3200 from me in the 6 years, they agreed to pay me £2500 and i took it. Could have been the lot if i'd taken it to court.
They are currently holding the whole reclaim thing due to it going through high court, the banks are panicking over the ammount they will surely lose and have to pay back.
Credit cards however are still having to repay the ridiculous charges back to their customers, but you have to fight a little for your money back.
See here for the thousands of success stories:-
forums.moneysavingexpert.com...

Maybe this could happen in America too??

reply to post by MrMartay


Not in the US unfortunately. We have no cases or ability to challenge the banking system. They will keep you so wrapped up in red tape and delays it becomes more costly to persue than to just accept and go on.

See what you mean.
Just did a quick bit of research courtousy of Google.
It appears some folk in America are having success while others are having to contend with federal, state and local laws.
Hopefully things will change for you because the banks sure are making an unfair fortune.

[edit on 12-8-2009 by MrMartay]

I am gonna pull out of the BIG bank i have right now because, since the big merger, they have nailed me 6 times now..getting tired of it all...

The solution is just so painfully simple:

Stop being stupid, and get your money out of the hands of scammers! They will only charge these fees until people stop paying them.

It doesn't make sense that even after sharing your horror stories, you guys continue to do business with them.

This thread is comical, to say the least...

reply to post by ninecrimes


Well, I do not know if comical is the right term.

I've been laid off since January because of the economic conditions caused by these greedy banks. I made close to 6 figures last year, but now have to contend with 430/wk on unemployment insurance, which will run out shortly.

I recently went over on my account by .78 - Seventy-Eight Cents. I was charged $50 for it!! I called the bank and asked for some leniency and was told "If it is not the banks error there is nothing they can do." and customer service hung up.

It's the banks that put people like me in the situation that I am in, and they are STILL tightening the screws on the very people they harmed the most. This SHOULD be illegal, or at least the fee should be proportional to the offense. Where is that tax money that I had to pay to bail them out to keep them afloat? It would be nice to say "It was not my error that caused your bank to almost fail" and demand that money back.

One can dream eh?

Originally posted by fraterormus
What I love is when you deposit a $2000 Payroll Check drawn from funds at the same Bank Branch on the 1st of the Month. Knowing that by law they don't have to Post/Deposit those funds into your account for 14 business days, you wait until the 20th to use those funds which are shown on your account as "Available". You then use your Debit Card to make three purchases for $50 totaling $150 against your $2000 "Available" deposit made 20 days (14 Business Days) earlier. However, their Accounting processes the Debit Card Transactions you made 20 days later before actually POSTING the Deposit on the 1st, so you have a balance that goes:

-50 Debit Card Charge on 7/20
-35 Overdraft Fee
-35 Insufficient Funds Fee
-50 Debit Card Charge on 7/20
-35 Overdraft Fee
-35 Insufficient Funds Fee
-50 Debit Card Charge on 7/20
-35 Overdraft Fee
-35 Insufficient Funds Fee
+2000 Deposit on 7/1
= $1640 Balance.

The Bank just made $210 in Fees off of you from 3 Transactions!

On top of it, they just made a negative report to all three Credit Reporting Bureaus, and the Monthly APR Interest Rate on all of your Lines of Credit at every other Bank and Business just went up to the Maximum Amount allowed by Law! Congratulations, you are now the proud owner of Credit Cards with > 33% Interest!

Be Forewarned: When you make a Deposit, your "AVAILABLE" Balance is not your real Balance. It is not truly Deposited until it is "POSTED".

[edit on 12-8-2009 by fraterormus]

I am deathly confused by your example. I don't see how you are assuming Overdraft Fees and Insufficient Fund Fees against money not cleared yet.

Let me give you an example of what I mean.

If you deposited the money on 7/1/09, and the money will not be cleared for 14 days, why would someone in their right mind be spending money that has not cleared? I know and see what you are saying, but I think the example is not a good one.

My work checks are direct deposits. My checks get deposited every Thursday and my money is available on Friday. If I deposit a check in the amount of $500, and I have $500 in my checking account, my check is automatically cleared because I have funds to cover that check.

The only time I have had a checked held was when I deposited a $16,500 check. $5000 was available in 5 days, and the balance took 21 days.

I have three bank accounts with Wells Fargo, Citi Bank and Chase, and none of them have held any of my checks for long than 1-2 days. Maybe it is because I always have a high amount of funds available for withdrawal.

Nonetheless, if someone doesn't have Overdraft Protection and are being charged for bounced checks, there is something seriously wrong with that individual and they should learn to live within their means. I don't fault the banks for charging these customers money for funds they don't have (despite checks being cleared or not).

reply to post by LeaderOfProgress


Overdraft fees have always been a totally disproportionate and unfair thing, even before the current state of the nation. The banks set up their posting system to totally screw people every chance they get.

What is so interesting about overdraft fees is a little situation I ran into this week. My oldest boy's transmission went out in his car. Due to the fact that he races this car as well as uses it for a daily driver I felt it best to upgrade the transmission to a beefier model.

This was going to cost 1850 dollars, money of which he did not have currently. Well he just turned 18 and the thought came to me about his mutual funds. His grandmother has been in charge of that fund until he turned 18. Well the decision was made to pull 2000 dollars out to cover the transmission and misc. expenses involved.

The mutual fund company cut a check for the amount specified and took about a week to send it. So we get the check in on monday. It was written to his grandmother for him. Kind of odd but no big deal. We decided to have her deposit it in her bank and write us a check to put in our bank so that we could get the transmission ordered in time to have it for this weekend.

So my wife goes and deposits the 2000 personal check from her mom into our account. Of course the check is good but yet they told us that we can not access that 2000 dollars until 3 days are up. They put what they called a hold on it and said that by federal law they are allowed to.

How could they possible be able to get away with holding funds like this? A contibuter above stated that they got fees over just pocket change but yet I cannot fine them for not letting me access my money?

Well the hold was lifted on day 4 and we got to order the part today. It is more the principle of the matter that bothers me. With such advancements in technology why would they "need" to hold the amount for 3 days. After all we were not withdrawing anything. The plan was to use the debit card in order to speed up the process of getting the order through.

It is a double standard if you ask me.

Originally posted by Quazze
If you deposited the money on 7/1/09, and the money will not be cleared for 14 days, why would someone in their right mind be spending money that has not cleared? I know and see what you are saying, but I think the example is not a good one.

Actually it is a common practice that Banks use. When a check "clears" it goes towards your "Available" balance. Available funds does not equal "posted" funds. If you already have funds greater than the amount of the check deposited, this probably won't ever pertain or be noticed. However, those that live Paycheck to Paycheck, and do not have an existing balance greater than their deposit, it becomes painfully noticeable. If ever you have had a single Insufficient Funds or Overdraft Fee in the previous 6 months, then this will always pertain, even if you have funds greater than the amount of the check deposited.

Checks, especially Payroll Checks, especially those drawn on funds from the same Branch, should be posted the same or next business day that they were deposited. However, most Banks see no profit in this. So, they mark those funds as "Available" on your account in that time period, meaning if you do an Account Balance Inquiry it will show that the deposit has cleared, however, for accounting purposes, they do not "POST" the check until the last possible date allowable by Federal Law (14 Business days, or 10 Business days in some States by State Law). This allows them to charge Insufficient Funds Fees and Overdraft Fees.

Of course, the Banking answer to this is to pay for a Secondary Account, like Savings, and pay for their premium service Overdraft Protection. This business practice is an attempt to up-sell customers to premium services to make more money for the Bank.

Most people only look at their Account Balance which shows "Available" Funds. You cannot blame people for falling for this deceptive practice. If a person asks a Teller, "how much money is in my Account? Can I write a check against those funds?" The answer you are told should be an honest one. Yes, you technically have those funds in your Account, and yes you can write a check against those Available funds, but you do so at a risk of being charged the NSF and Overdraft Fees because "Available" is not the same as "Posted".

Of course, if you've never had an NSF or Overdraft Fee, and you always routinely keep your balance greater than any deposited check, and you have Overdraft protection, then this scenario does not apply. However, any everyday Joe with a plain-Jane Checking Account who carries a low balance from paycheck to paycheck is at risk of this scenario.

Where else do you think they are getting the 34+ Billion dollars a year in NSF & Overdraft Fees from? There are financially irresponsible people in the world, but they are the minority. The majority of that is from fiscally responsible people who are just trying to make ends meet, who are suckered by the deceptive business practices of the Banking Industry.

reply to post by mblahnikluver


Well then, since you worked as a teller at a bank, I'm sure you're aware off the BIGGEST scam perpetrated against every single customer, when they sign up and autograph that 'Signature Card' they have just entered into a Contract of Ahdesion! They have agreed to the terms and conditions in the booklet you hand them next welcoming them to your institution!

I went against a bank for stealing my child's social security disability...an act which completely unlawful according to federal law...but they argue, because I signed the signature card...I said..."ok take the money".

The only satisfaction I get is this bank...is going DOWN so they won't be around to rob anyone else...as for the rest of them, hehe the crash is coming...watch for it!

SurvivalTime.org

Unless you are writing checks when you don't have the money...I don't see the issue. And if you are writing checks when you don't have the money...then you deserve the overdraft fees. In fact, writing bad checks can be prosecuted as a crime.

I've had a checking account since I was a teenager...over 25 yrs now, and not one overdraft fee...zero!

My Dad always told me "Don't let your mouth write a check your @ss can't cash!" and I think that is not only a figure of speech but can be applied literally as well.

What is needed is for more education on how to manage money for High School Students before they get out in the real world. Just because you have checks left doesn't mean you can't be out of money.

Every now and then it's not the banks who are at fault...it's the idiot consumers.

[edit on 12-8-2009 by Coach Knight]

reply to post by Coach Knight


Lucky you.

It's not a check issue, per se. It's a debit/credit issue when you don't have overdraft protection.

IT seems that you run in the "just follow authority and everything will be cool" crowd so you really have nothing to offer on this thread.

reply to post by LeaderOfProgress


I say let them collect the fees! It all because people can't balance their check books. It's called addition and subtraction! If you know how add and subtract you should never have an overdraft fee. Let the stupid people pay the fee's. It keeps other services free for you and me, like free checking and internet banking. Stupid people keep it up!

reply to post by LeaderOfProgress


I'm so tired of banks trying to screw us over. It's not bad enough that they use our money and don't pay us for it but they set up their accounting to deliberately confuse people to cause overdrafts.

As example,
TCF Bank has online banking like most banks so you can check your balance, deposits and withdrawls. The difference with TCF is that you cannot know your current balance online or when deposits have cleared. You can however find out when withdrawls are removed. Now here's the funny part: If TCF shows a withdrawl that was removed from your account, it says POSTED for that withdrawl. If it shows a deposit, it will either show PENDING or POSTED. So now you'd think that when the deposit changes from pending (ie not available) to POSTED (available), that deposit is now available to use right? WRONG !!!
TCF actually has 2 different definitions for the word POSTED to confuse their customers into thinking deposits have cleared when indeed they have not, thus CAUSING overdrafts.
To me, this should be criminal but it is not SOMEHOW ??????

reply to post by truthtothemasses


OK, I agree it may not be check related, but rather debit and credit related. But as the poster put so eloquently right after your post...it's still about simple addition and subtraction. If you can't BALANCE a check book you should understand there are consequences (fees).

Funny how any opinion that says people should take responsibility for their own actions and not blaming someone else is viewed as "having nothing to add to the thread." LOL

So now we are "entitled" to passing bad checks and being allowed unlimited overdrafts.


And I'm not in the just follow authority and everything will be cool crowd...it's more like learn to add and subtract and everything will be cool crowd. And while we're at it...reading is FUNdamental too!

[edit on 12-8-2009 by Coach Knight]

I hate banks with all my heart.
BUT until people wake up and realize there are better alternatives to Capitalism, we'll be in deep trouble. Corporations get bigger and bigger and more monstrously greedy at every step.

And when I propose alternatives people react exactly the same, every time:

1 - That's communism
2 - It's not possible, human nature won't allow it.

Banks will vanish in thin air, along with insurance companies, as soon as we can get our act together and abandon Capitalism.

reply to post by Coach Knight


Coach, the banks deliberately set up this system to where people that don't have overdraft protection get reemed in the a-hole. That means people that are struggling.

It has nothing to do with "balancing your check book". The highest amount/first in is a clear example of how banks "give it to you...in the arse."

reply to post by truthtothemasses


I'm SO extremely sick of people like that, personally. The "you got what you deserved" crowd is the reason our country is in as bad a shape as it is. They're all for whatever as long as it doesn't affect them personally, but it will soon enough.