This is dangerous ground. Although burdensome, it is the responsibility of the accountholder to not overspend. The fee is a deterrent for many to monitor their accounts as they should. If we transition from High low to low high, we'll likely see small items paid out of balances and the large items returned NSF...house payments, car payments, taxes, insurance. Not good.

I am glad to see that not all the posts I have read are going on a bank bashing rant because, lets all be honest here...everyone needs to take responsibility for themselves, customers and banks alike. I believe there can be a happy medium type of decision made where maybe the actual amount of the overdraft charge will be relative to the purchase and if comsumers would rather be declined and have to deal with the merchants themselves then so be it. It is a common misconception that the banks are the ones who hold purchases for days and then debit them at a later date only to overdraw the account. It is the merchants who hold purchases from posting to your account based on when they settle thier VISA machines for thier place of business, gas stations are notorious for this. The fact of the matter is, if it hasnt come out of your account yet then you havent paid for it yet, but you should still expect to just as you would an outstanding check that has not yet been cashed. Banks are not a non-profit organiztaion they do have to make money somehow and not to say that it should be mainly from fees but they do takeon an awful lotof risk to just not pass any of the loss on to the customer who caused it. And to group all banks in to one is not a correct way of thinking. It has been mentioned in this thread that your smaller local banks are the way to go and that statement in my opinion is the right way to go. I myself work for a local bank and we do everything in our power to keep people from getting to far in to the negitive, take in to account thier trasaction history, when they will get thier pay check, how long they have been a customer, etc. We also support our local small business in that, since I am the person in charge of paying or not paying overdraft items every morning when I come in to work I know this for a fact, as long as there is a deposit coming in we pay incoming items with NO CHARGE. There are ways for people and banks to co-exsist without hostility but its going to take some understanding on the banks part that there needs to be the choice of the customer as to whether they want to pay a bank charge or a merchant return charge and customers need to take responsibility for the way they spend thier money and understand that they will be held accountable for any mistakes or oversights on thier part, just as a bank would be if it were their mistake. There are so many different banks out there to choose from and many different products to suit different needs and always remember READ YOUR DISCLOSURES... I know they are boring and lenghty but they will protect you from feeling like you were "scammed" so to speak, all the rules are in there, and if you dont agree with something then you dont have to sign the account agreement, simple as that.

I was al ready to write my opinion on all of this when I realized that is has been said already, many times already, within this thread...so I will say this...I am an assistant branh manager for a small/local bank in the Bucks County/Montgomery County area, one of my many duties include makeing decisions on NSF accounts every morning. Yes, that means every morning I come in and I review the accounts that will go negitive pending incoming transactions. I then contact these customers and alert them to the siutaion and inform them that if they can make a deposit that I will be able to pay these items with NO CHARGE. Also, if the item is less then $10 we do not charge a fee at all. If they cannot make a deposit and would like th item paid they are then made aware that there will be a $25 fee incurred. I just wanted to share that with everyone here who thinks that ALL bankers are these horrible no good petty theives that want to screw you over...we are people too trying to work to live just like you and actually do understand the plight of the lower income families...ask anyone who has ever worked in a bank branch...we are not the ones making big money so realize that we dont make the rules we just follow them and in order for there to be a change ALL parties involved, banks, customer, merchants, VISA, etc need to work together to come up with a plan for everyone.

I love hearing all these people talk about how easy it is to balance your checking account. Yes you are correct, it is just simple math. BUT if the banks system is set up to screw the customer it won't matter how good with money you are. EVERY TIME I have had Band of America refund the fees my account was positive. If I had truly overdrafted my account would still be negative after the refunds. P.S. my wife and I are former employees and customers of said bank, keyword being former.

The banks have gone completely over the top with their fees. I had a checking account with US Bank with a credit card account backing it as overdraft protection, and I also carry a life insurance policy with US Bank. The premium for this life insurance policy is one of MANY THINGS that was withdrawn from the checking account automatically, some monthly, the life insurance... every 3 months. (quarterly)

Early this year, I had to have emergency surgery, was unable to work, and fell behind on the payments to the credit card account. After being released from the hospital, I stopped by the local branch to discuss my situation with someone from the bank. I was told that the manager was out, so I left a message for her to contact me ASAP. I never heard back from her.

After 2 subsequent surgeries and several months, the credit account was closed and sent to collections, leaving me no overdraft protection. My checking account balance was very low. Several monthly recurring transactions had been declined... but this is where things get very fishy.

There was not enough money in my checking account to pay the quarterly charge for the life insurance... short by 80 CENTS. Other charges had been denied, but not this one, only because it was a charge for them.

I recieved no notification of the following events:

-overdrafted my account 80 cents
-locked out my online account access
-charged me $20 fee for the overdraft
-began charging $8/day negative balance fee

I was not informed until my statement came in the mail showing OVER $250 negative balance and stating that the $8/day negative balance fee would continue to accrue until I resolved this matter.

1000 PERCENT INTEREST PER DAY ON THE ORIGINAL OVERDRAFT!!!!

Talk about predators. Government of the people, by the people, for the people. That's what it's supposed to be. We'll see.

Wow, I learned how to balance a check book when I was in the 6th grade. It's pretty simple addition and subtraction. If you can't comprehend the process, you shouldn't have a bank account. Take responsibility for your own actions. The best way to keep from being charged overdraft charges is to not spend more money than you have. How is a bank supposed to report on an available balance when it has no way of knowing that you have outstanding checks? Doesn't it make more sense for everyone to be responsible for their own funds instead of expecting the bank to babysit? Reading some of the comments makes me seriously doubt the intelligence of many people. If you can't handle the responsibility of something that you signed up for, then you should close all accounts and pay only with cash.

One thing they are STILL missing from this legislation:

Banks must be required to credit deposits by the following business day. Period.

I've encounter two different banks in my area that claim to process deposits within one business day, yet in reality they have witheld my paycheck deposits for up to a week before crediting them to my checking account.

I keep an accurate ledger, yet because of this particular practice, I've been burned with overdrafts because the banks were deliberately witholding my deposits. I deposit my paycheck on a Friday, then write out a rent check on Tuesday, only the check bounces when cashed on Thursday, because my paycheck from the previous week still has not been credited.

It's bullshit that needs to be stopped.

Lets all step back and think about this.
Fees may have gotten somewhat out of hand and some banks recognizing this, have voluntarily taken steps to limit fees and even go so far as not charge fees on return checks or debits less than $5.00. However, each and every one of you signed a bank services agreement when you opened your account, that clearly states what you were responsible for and what the penalties were. If you didn't intent to live up to the agreement you signed why did you sign it to begin with? A check or a debit card transaction is merely a promise to pay. It is a promise that when the item is presented to the bank the funds will be available to cover it. No one twisted your arm to make the transaction. You signed the check. Would you give your mother a phony $20.00 bill. Whats the difference between that and and giving her a bad check? The bank is literaly making you a loan when they pay your check and you don't have the money in the bank.
Not lets not kid ourselves. Banks make a lot of money on charges. I will tell you from first hand experience that there is a tough decision process with banks who are torn between customers who want to pay no fees, want low rates on loans, want their checks paid, don't want to be embarrassed by a merchant telling them in front of everyone, in the store, that the card or check they were given wasn't any good. On the other side you have customers who are demanding good returns on their investment in bank stocks, bank employees that need to get paid to support their families, and bank regulators that are constantly making unusual demands on the banks. And what about the FDIC Insurance that the banks pay for to insure "your" deposits? Not to mention the millions of dollars of fraud that are laid on bank customers every day, a lot due to clients stupidity, and most of which the banks eat. If thats not bad enough there are a lot of customers that fall into both categories. I will bet you that exorbitant legislation, that severely limits the banks ability to make a profit for their stockholders while at the same time pleasing their clients, will come back to haunt everyone. Many of the "free" services that we receive at or local banks will disappear. No more free on-line banking accounts, no more free checking, large annual fees for credit cards, no more rewards for using check cards and master cards, every check could potentially be sent back if the funds aren't available, which means while the bank won't charge you a return item fee you can bet that the person you gave the bad check to will. As someone said earlier: "be careful what you wish for" You may not like what you wind up with.

Just another comment from a banker. All credit from today's business day are posted before any debits come out. If you have something pending to be deposit tomorrow that willn't cover todays overdraft. Also get your deposit's in before the cut off time, which at our bank is currently 4:00. This gives your bank time to update transaction for the day.

Just a heads up!. If many of you would choose you rlocal community banks you would be better off. I work for one. I used to work for one of the big banks. If you overdrawn by less than a 1.00 there is no overdraft charge. Also if a bank offers you free checking you don't get your overdraft charges back because they are giving you a checking account for no charge. Usually i f you overdrawn one or twice they will refund on free checcking but that is it. Not to be pointing fingers but working in a bank the customers who are constatly overdrawn kept no record of what thye spend and what they have available. Take responsibility, if the banks messes up and it is there error they will refund the fees, but don't expect them to refund fees everytime you decide to spend more money then you have.

I can't believe what I read on some of these comments! People talking about what the bank says their balance online and a different amount over the phone - - whatever happened to check registers or some sort of log to KEEP TRACK OF YOUR OWN BALANCE!! Don't depend on someone else to tell you how much money you have - all it takes is simple addition and subtraction and you will know EXACTLY - TO THE PENNY how much you have available to spend. Check it once and check it twice, but be RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR OWN MONEY and you won't have these fees.

I have been with Bank of America for 6 years and I have only overdrawn once. I had "overdraft protection" from my savings account and they charged me $10 and transferred $100 from my savings to my checking. I called and had the fee waived, no problem. It did teach me not to let it happen again. Bank of America also has email and text alerts you can set-up for various situations. I don't think it's too hard to keep on top of your balance.

Prediction:

1. Free Checking will only be available if you maintain a $1,000 - $1,500 collected balance in your account, else $10 a month service charge.
2. You want a debit card? $18 annually. $1.00 per tranaction if you do not maintain a balance in your account.
3. When will I be able to withdrawal money from the check I deposited? In 3 - 5 days unless you have money in your account to cover the withdrawal (which is per current regulations)

Remember the good old days. You will get to see them again, as Free Checking can not be sustained.

Now that the public and Congress believe bank's are a public utility, let's set their fees, interchange rates and product definitions. We need a public service commission, oh no, let's call it a Consumer Financial Protection Agency.

The last time I looked, banks made this country great by facilitating investment in capitalism. You know, the right to have an dream, build a business and earn a profit.

Profits at banks today are not made by taking in deposits and lending at an interest spread. It is made based upon fees. Banks get paid for taking risk. Lending money. Honoring transactions and then collecting the debt. Providing access to cash. Clearing negotiable items. Has anyone looked to see how much was written off by banks by those who overdrew their accounts.

Do you realize that when you use your debit card and the bank authorizes the transaction, it OBLIGATES the bank to honor the transaction, whether you have the money in your account several days later.

As we spin towards government control, remember that the 5 out of 100 are getting what they wanted, TAPFR (total abdication of personal financial responsability).

I think the one post above is right. We are headed back to a cash society, likely similar to what I see occurs for those today illegally in this country without bank access.

Time to invest in money clips!

Terry, I agree with you. I think the only way to stop outrageous bank fees is to impose a windfall profits tax on all banks. Then the banks can regulate themselves.

If the banks are crying about loosing money stop paying out all these dam bonuses to the fat cats at the top who ran the banks into the ground in the first place. And watch your balance online or some other way. I have never had an overdraft fee I always leave a $50 cushion just in case they try to sit on a transaction for too long. There should be no waiting for any transaction!!!

After reading some of the posts, one of the easiest things to do is to not use a debit card for small purchases. Use cash. I had a few overdrafts when the bank would, unbeknowst to me, pend debit card transactions for a few days. The balance at the ATM would show sufficient funds to make a withdrawal, but the next day or so the debit card transaction would post and the overdraft fee would hit. All this from a bank that used to have commercials about real time transaction posting and balances. They don't have those commericals anymore. The mystery balance is another way to trick people into overdrafts. I never use my debit card for less than $25 so that if intentional deception called my balance is incorrect, I don't feel so bad about getting a $35 fee for a $5 purchase. I also don't allow any company, utility or gym, or credit card to make an automatic debit to my account. I control every outgoing payment through online bill pay. To all those who boast about balancing your checkbooks, what a waste of time. The banks have the technology so that it is not necessary. The problem is that once the banks figured out that people relied on the ATM or the internet for balance information, they withdrew or changed the technology so that the balance shown on the ATM screen or online is not necessarily accurate.

I work at a bank and I see how repeated overdrafts affect customers who are struggling. But I also see the dedicated personal bankers and branch managers that go above and beyond what they have to do to help people figure out their finances! We sit people down and explain our products TRUTHFULLY and THOROUGHLY! And we are always willing to refund fees for first time offenses and for any extenuating circumstances. Bankers are not the heartless people they are made out to be. We have families, we have bills, we know what it is like to live paycheck to paycheck too!

I think people need to realize that when you get an overdraft fee you are being saved the returned check fee on the bank side AND on the merchant side! Banks also charge a fee for returned checks, it may not be as much as an overdraft fee, but once you add it to the merchant's return fee it's considerably MORE than the ONE overdraft fee you would have incurred.

To the people complaining about the banks not explaining how overdrafts work maybe you should think back to the day you opened your account. When you sign on the signature line for your account you are entering into a contract with the bank. There were disclosures provided to you that explain how all aspects of your account works. You signed the contract with the bank...why would you not read what you were entering into? All the information you could ever need are in those disclosures. I promise! Not to mention that when accounts are opened the bank offers you overdraft protection that very day. They will say something to the affect that "the overdraft protection will be $8 for every overdraft instead of our regular $35 fee." MOST people respond "Oh I won't need that. I don't PLAN on overdrawing my account." Overdraft protection is a sell for a personal banker. Of course they are going to offer it to you. Here is a hint...TAKE IT! Even if you don't plan on being overdrawn it can save you money!!

The bottom line here is you need to know how much you have in your account before you spend money. There are so many resources available to consumers out there! Online banking, CHECK REGISTERS, phone inquiries, ATM inquiries.

I could literally go on and on about how awful this bill is. I'll just say this one thing: if the overdraft fees are taken away then free checking will also be taken away. And I will have to start paying for my account because some people can't keep from spending money they don't have. How is THAT fair?

This "take financial responsibility" doesn't make any differance if the banks want to charge you. I recently made a purchase with my ATM card. There was more than enough to cover the purchase. They charged me an overdraft fee when I had several hundred more than the purchase. The money had been posted to my account for over a week. When I went to the bank and pointed this out they admitted that it was their mistake. But I had to speak to the bank manager and threaten to close my account to get them to reverse the fees. Something has to be done about banking practices and the stealing from customers. If I had deserved the overdraft I would have paid it. Also for all you that say take financial responsibility, it sounds to me that you are all upset because you may lose your free checking and checks. Be financially responsible and buy your checks and pay for account maintaince.

I work at a very large bank. Listen up cause chances are you won't hear this from your friendly branch manager: Your Visa Debit/Check Card is tied to your CURRENT balance, while checks, ATM withdrawals, and branch withdrawals are tied to your AVAILABLE balance.
THis is what gives the appearance that deposits post after debits. You see, Visa has to run in a batch cycle (shown as Current Balance from the previous days business) while the Phone, ATM & Online systems are actually in real time. So here's what can happen when you have to live paycheck to paycheck: You get paid on Fridays via direct deposit. On Thursday you had $7 left in your account. Friday morning you get up and check your account and it shows your payroll check for $1000, for a total of $1007 sitting in your available balance. Here's where the trouble starts and the SOLE culprit is that Visa Debit card and the Batch cycle. You go out to lunch and spend $10 using your checkcard. Monday, you check your account and you see an $35 overdraft for the $10 pending transaction for lunch on Friday?? That's because the bank's system for Visa Check cards showed you didn't have enough in your CURRENT balance on that date. Also know that overdrafts from Visa Debit/Check cards are always assessed TWICE (once when it posts and then AGAIN when it clears a couple of days later). That means your $5 McDlds ends up costing you $75. Now, had you gone into your branch or ATM and withdrew $20 on Friday for lunch instead of using your check card, you would NOT incur ANY FEES. That's right!!! That's because ATM, checks and branch withdrawals post AFTER all deposits for that day's business (because they operate in REAL TIME) The High-Low game is also true. What used to be an honest service when most customers wrote checks 10+ years ago, is just an excuse now. The fact is banks hardly ever return items so then the mortgage or car payment excuse no longer applies (they pay them all)
THis is because the banks have figured out why share the fees with merchants when the bank can keep all the profit in house? Hope this helps...

My wife had an account with a locally owned bank for several years with no problems on overdraft fees etc. then Wells Fargo purchased the bank and bang right off they started nailing her with this fee and that fee to the point it finally came to over a thousand dollars in overdraft fees, over account fees, you name they have it fees! We refused to be taken and changed banks so now we have a debt collection outfit who bought this from Wells Fargo after us but it well be a cold day you know where before they ever collect a solitary dime! Our current bank has been really good to us and we have had no real problems, i might add that it is a locally owned bank not a national chain bank like Wells Fargo!

Years ago, my wife snail mailed a large check for deposit to BoFA. Of course, the check got 'lost' for two weeks, during which time BoFA pillaged my account mercilessly -- to the tune of nearly $900. Needless to say, tata BoFA; and join the growing ranks of companies with whom I will NEVER do business again. I hope you crumble like a stale cookie under the weight of your own ravenous greed.

Personal responsibility. Let me consider that. So depositing cash money at 10 am on Thursday then using a debit card to make a couple online payments to bills at 5pm that evening is not being responsible? When I did exactly that at a small "home town" bank I ended up over $300 in bank fees. Of course I checked the balance again each day for a week to make sure nothing went wrong and it showed the bills paid with a positive remaining balance. Suddenly THREE full weeks later my account is $300 in the red! I get out all of my paperwork and go over each and every line of the online account statement. I find the "error" where the bank changed the date my CASH deposit was credited to the day AFTER I made the deposit. This one change by the bank ended up causing 5 payments I had made to suddenly become overdrafts with subsequent fees of $35 each. Yes, the bills were marked as paid still, but it took my account into the red. Also backdated was a $5 per day overdrawn fee because the overdraft fees ate my positive balance.

Needless to say, I closed my account with that bank. I did end up with proof that this bank automatically printed the next days date on ALL deposit slips, including cash deposits despite the stated bank policy that cash deposits made would be credited immediately. A friend of mine that still had an account there for a short time after this happened to me regularly made cash deposits to her account and I was with her a few times when she did so. One day we were looking at her deposit slip and realized that it had the next days date on it. The teller said that all deposit slips had the next days date on them, that was how their system worked. We made the teller put the correct date on the slip and initial it. Sure enough a few weeks later one of the cash deposit dates was changed and my friend was hit with an overdraft fee. Luckily she was able to fight this by showing a receipt with the correct date and the tellers initials on it.

After much discussion my friend also closed her account. This bank was, and still is, committing fraud by falsifying receipts and retroactively changing the dates cash deposits are credited to customers accounts. They do so in order to create false overdraft situations for some customers so they can incur fees and make money.

Personal responsibility is wonderful, but there are banks out there that do commit fraud by fudging dates and holding deposits in order to increase bank income through overdraft fees. Banks must be held accountable for predatory practices.

Fees should be limited to the amount spent by the bank for processing plus a small surcharge. The fairest way would be a percentage of the amount overdrawn with a minimum amount based on costs. Further assessments could be permitted if the account remains overdrawn by more than say, a week. Transactions should be processed in the order they arrive not by amount. There is no rational reason for that practice. The customer cannot reorder their deposits, the bank should not be allowed to do it with other transactions. No automatic enrollment in so-called overdraft protection. Simple solutions. The bank loses nothing and the consumer is not gouged.

I was an officer in a bank over 15 years ago - when overdrafts were much lower. The bank which is fair sized state bank (not a national one) made over $1 million annually from NSF/overdrafts. Every year as the product manager they wanted me to check and see if the market would bear them raising the fee. Not that it cost them more. They just looked at it as a profit generator.

I always felt they were hurting the people who had the least to give, but believe, banks do NOT care about those people. The bank always did the high-low payments. We were supposed to convince customers and our employees that we were doing a "good" thing, after all customers wouldn't want their mortgage to bounce... Total crock. It's the easiest way to gouge customers quickly before they have a chance to make a deposit.

And ya'll don't need to forget about the man that came up with Overdraft Protection. He gets 20% of overdraft fees just for coming up with it, and he has made millions from it. He also gets a percentage of the money paypal charges using it for business transactions.

Here is a simple solution to prevent your bank from charging you an excessive overdraft fee: Keep a register and don't spend more than you have in your account!!

For all the reason stated above, particularly the scandalous high to low scam and snowballing effect, I no longer use the banking system. I now use deposit account visa card run by walmart that does not have overdraft fees. It works like a bank with all the benefits without overdraft fees. It simply declines charges if the funds are not there and will not let you write electronic checks that are mailed out, unless the funds are in the account. Again no fees if funds are not there. Its a great alternative to traditional banking.

Ok folks I have read a lot of the sob stories and can not for the life of me figure why anyone should have an overdraft fee. It's money 101. Here's what you do. Save up 5 or 10 dollars or even 20. Whatever you can afford. Put that in your checking account and FORGET ABOUT IT! Don't add it to your check register. You will have that money as a slush fund so when you make a 2 dollar error of the bank makes a mistake there will be no overdraft. The error can be rectified when it is found and there is no hassle with the bank. Each month when you get your statement you will be off by that amount, but so what. You've saved an overdraft fee. This is even a poor persons resolution and will work as long as you forget the slush fund is there. I think it is pretty simple and a practice that I had implemented years ago and have NEVER paid an overdraft fee.

The more I read people's comments on these stories, the more I realize I really must be in the 99th percentile. Or maybe I just wasn't dropped on my head as a child?

I can't wait until the banks who service solely by screwing over their customers fail!!! Let's not forget banning ATM fees. Give me a break. Nobody is paying that machine to sit there!!

Typical american attitude. It's always somebody else's fault. No personal responsibility. I'm talking about the ones who knowlingly abuse their banking priveleges. Banking is not a right. Banks run a business, it is up to you whether you use it. The government has made it clear that any financial obligation we take on, the financial institution has to have the who, what, when, and how much clearly stated on the application. IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO READ THE DOCUMENT COMPLETELY AND THOROUGHLY. That loan officer is not obligated to read or give you a short version of the document,but he is required to explain anything you don't understand.

During my high school years ('63 grad), we had a home economics class that taught us how to budget our time, money, and food. What I learned then, still applies today.

I am ok with the overdraft protection, but I think that the fees that they charge, are far beyon from be reasonable.
Happend to me that, in my account I had enough funds to cover 3 checks for a small amount, and part of the funds to cover part of a bigger check, but not enough to cover the entire check. All of them got clear the same day, the bank pass the bigger check first and make the first overdraft ($34) and subsequentely, procces the other 3 checks making one overdraft for each one of them, next day I made a deposit to cover the checks but, I forgot to cover the overdraft, wich overdraft the account again, charging more overdraft for the overdraft and the worse is, that the same day a transaction was clear for a value of $1.46 and I ended paying $34 dollars for a $1.46 wich it comes to 2,328.76% ineteres rate, that is bad, isn't it?

"The American Bankers Association released a survey earlier this year saying consumers prefer automatic overdraft protection. "

Great, then they won't mind asking for it for their own accounts. Bet if you rephased it to ask "Do you enjoy the bank hitting you with a fee without first telling you there is going to be one?" the majority
of those same people would say no. They are not saying stop the fees, they are asking that you get a warning when you are about to go over your limit. Not notifying people is strickly a way to bring in the money.

It's always the banks fault; really? Come on people, take on a little responsibility and quit blaming everyone else for your mistakes. I've worked in the banking industry for over 20 years and have refunded many overdraft fees that were not the bank's fault. I've offered many times to help people learn to balance their accounts; most don't take advantage of that. If you write a bad check then you should pay for it. It's a privilege to have the service; it shouldn't be expected that the banks use their money for nothing. Consider yourselves lucky; if I write bad checks, I don't have a job. As a bank employee, I don't have that luxury, we're held to a much higher standard. Maybe if your job was on the line, you'd take time to balance your checkbook?

Mon E maker in HOUSTON TEXAS YOU ARE A JERK

In the past 2 months Wells Fargo has charged me more than $200 in overdrafts fees. Every overdraft fee is $35, and many were charged to my account when my balance overdrafted $5-10. In a perfect world the overdraft fees are completely avoidable. The world is far from perfect, which is why I joined the Marine Corps a year ago. But the low pay and the unrecoverable costs of moving station to station, keep my account near zero a couple days before payday, every payday. I am a specific case but you dont have to be in the military to be hurt by overdraft fees. Many people who are unhurt by overdraft fees are obviously in no financial troubles and do not care about $30-$40 fees. But to compound a financially insecure individual's troubles by charging an outrageous fee is not only bad business, it is unethical. I would 99% of the time rather be declined at the register than have a $6 dollar value meal turn into a 41$ value meal. I refuse to believe that banks believe they are doing us a service by approving those purchases. Think about the possibilities. Instead of charging a fee for each individual overdrafted purchase, how about charging a fee for every $40 of overdrafts? All consumers want is for banks to be reasonable.

Fees of all kind should be TAX DEDUCTABLE! Fees on cable, phone, electric, gas...fess, fees, fees equall profits for the companies. If they want to charge us FEES then we sohould be able to deduct them on our tax retuns as expenses.

End the High/Low Practice...... 90% of the problem is fixed.

There is ABSOLUTELY NO REASON, in this day and age of computer banking, that either a cell text or email can be sent to an account owner if there is danger of an overdraft occuring.
In the 1960's, in the UK, if I ever had a problem such as an overdraft the bank would actually call me on the phone and I could then go down and correct the situation. An AUTOMATICALLY GENERATED email or text message nowadays would get us back to those good old days when banks actually SERVED the public instead of robbing them blind.

Well seems to me that more than just a few of us have felt like a piggy bank turned upside down by our bank and shaken, then shaken again.

We need legislation to at least try to keep the unfair practices in check. sadly, banks will just find another way to get their hands on our money and then we'll ask for legislation to control that. hamsters on a wheel, thats what we are.

Banks didn't pay any overdraft fees to the citizens that bailed their fee happy butts out of the red.Banks caused a near collapse of our system and lo and behold, they're now using scare tactics to block legistaion. Talk about your death panel health care baloney. Banks need to be regulated. We've seen that they can't be trusted to do anything transparently.

Hi low? How about you just process things in the order recieved? A before z as taught in any first grade class.

Yes, teach in our schools, and thats another horror
story, some basic real life understanding of money and responsible use of the same.

Credit Unions, banks, whats the best option? CASH. Cash is king. I'm at a loss why any bank would "pend" a cash deposit. No banker can answer that question with a straight face, tho its fun to see them try to explain it.

The system is broken. Greed as always will rule. regulation is in order, not sure how 435 elected representatives can take so long in cleaning this up. Oh, I do know, bank lobbying power.
Enough of the madness already. Cash people, thats where its at. I know for some thats difficult, but it does begin with some personal responsibility.However, it doesn't seem to end there.

I keep seeing comments on here about not keeping track of your money. Doesn't matter what you do. I have two accounts at the same bank. Wanted to do a purchase and went online and transferred the money from my savings to my checking. This money immediately showed on my available balance. Went to town and used my debit card to make transactions. They overdrew all 4 transactions that day. The big dollar purchase that I put money in the account for was deducted first. The other 3 transactions were deducted second and then my deposit was credited. If they had allowed my transfer to be credited in chronological order I would have had a positive balance at the end of the day. You can take your intelligence and perfect bookkeeping and kiss my little white A_ _! There is no way to beat somebody that can change the rules on you when they want to.

RE: "Rebecca Bergdall, San Francisco, CA" It isn't always that easy to "know" your balance. I receintly had some company double charge my purchase. While it was an honest mistake that they corrected immediatly it was a large purchase and took 2 hours for the purchase to clear and 4 days for the refund to appear. Since I had my refund slip in hand from the store I made the assumption that the refund would clear in the same time frame as the purchases.
When I began paying the bills the next day, online, it never occurred to me to check my account since there was ample moneys available. Because I only keep about a months pay in checking and my purchase was for a little more than half of my normal paycheck...you can see where this is going.
Long story short, over 15 overdrafts were generated with a fee of $35 each. It cost me $200 in lawyer fees to threaten the bank to return the funds to my account before I filed suit.

The charges that are the most unfair are the ones the bank charges to the company that the customer writes a bad check to. Every time someone writes me a check that is returned my bank, Wells Fargo charges me $7.00 and I didn't do anything wrong. I sincerely hope the legislation manages to eliminate that unfair charge.

On another account that I use only for groceries, I didn't know that the POS at the store would not reject a debit (PIN transaction) if the amount wasn't there. I literally was 90 cents over and got hit with a fee of $35. Had the display told me I would be going over, I would gladly have paid cash or used a different card.

I am not irresponsible--I stay within my means but sometimes the timing on inflows/outflows can be tricky. Not everyone has the luxury of five-figure cushions in their accounts.

I have a Citibank "Checking Plus" line of credit as my overdraft protection. I have no problem whatsoever with the usurious interest rate on my overdraft protection. Up until last Fall, if I went over my limit (a big bill that needed to be paid a day or two before my paycheck), I would go into the red for a few days and then--as soon as my paycheck was in--I would tranfer back the amount owed (including a few dollars of interest).

Suddenly last Fall, they now expect me to become a funds manager. I have to check my account every time I know that I may be on the border and have to manually transfer the amount (in $100 increments) from my creidt line to my checking acount to only accrue interest. If they do it for me (as they had for 10 years prior), I now get hit with a $35 fee for the computer to do what it is expected to do.

If I wanted to be a funds manager, I would have gotten a finance degree and gone into the profession. If they can't make money off of charging me 21% (APR seemingly compounded by the minute) for a day or two of a loan, then they should have been allowed to go out of business.

I moved all my money to an on-line bank that treats me like a human being.

A number of solutions could come from this. First though- there needs to be some oversight of this
"scam" with OD fees. Recurring fees in a matter of days
that could bankrupt a person is simply wrong. a recent experience for me was a scheduled bill pay in error.
Briefly the same bill went through twice the same day overdrawing the account. I did my part in monitoring and called to correct the error within 24 hrs, and even made an additional deposit to cover merchants.
Little did I know that the bank considered itself the primary merchant- to the tune of 630.00 of my money.
This bank (BOA) charged 18 nsf's for their failure to stop payment on my request. all merchants were paid rightly, but these only add up to less than 20% of the charges from the bank ( I'm a daily card user, no cash). so here's a note to Bill Pay users- this is a game of poker, play at your own risk.

To me the major problem is the high fee for NSFs. The charge should be equal to the cost and not punitive or a major profit center.
My perspective is that Banking is a service industry and it kind of surprises me that some people on here claim to be in banking and express that banks should punish people who make errors. We have law inforcement to punish people and don't need bankers to take that on. They are already making big money on the interest spread and CC charges.

What I love the most is all the people who are upset about the banks charging them fees for spending more money than they have. Almost all the post start out with I had this much money and I spent more than that by "accident" and the big bad bank charged me a fee. Duh, if you overdraft your account you are agreeing to pay a fee. As for largest to smallest, whether the bank post in chronological order, or by time of purchase, you still spent more money than you had, sorry it didn't work out and you were charged more fees. As for the people who are claiming extreme medical issues, you would think you would want to pay more attention to your money than the average person. If you still spend more money than you have, cut back on something else, so you can afford your medicine. The belief of entitlement of this country is amazing. What ever happened to personal responsibility? As for the people who claim that Point of Sale transactions should be declined if the money is not there, there is a perfect system for this already in place...wait for it...balance your checkbook, and if you don't have the money don't make the purchase, wow I just solved the banking problem, without congress or another bailout.

Ive read so much crap how the bank should warn you if you're about to write a bad check or use you ATM card when you dont have enought money to cover the purchase or withdrawl and it makes me sick. Yeah, I've overdrawn my acct once...I (yes ME) made an error in my check book and thought I had more money than I did. Well the bank covered the bad checks and overdrafts, but they charged me about $300 in fees. How did this help me you ask? Well they did'nt bounce my checks and send them back so that the retailer could call me up and threaten to prosecute me if I didnt come right away to pay the check and the even higher fee they would have charged. I did'nt get sent to collections like some retailers do when you bounce a check. I made the mistake, not the bank...yeah the fees might be a bit high and I might have complained about it a bit, but they saved my ass. Now they dont charge me for my checking account or my online bill paying or using my debit card as a credit card or any of that stuff so I'm saving money in the long run. It is a service. If you don't want it, go tell you bank and I'm sure they'll be happy to oblige...if not...go find another bank...lots of em around!

Thats why I love the casino's they cash your check for nothing. I will never go back to a bank again, haven't had one for 5 years now, and i pay my bill's just fine with out them, and yes i do have a car loan with out a bank account

I hope the government will outlaw Overdraft fees and make it a criminal offense.let the 2000 or more go under the big ones first to pay back the people victim of the baillout money.the government stole/looted the peoples money ,the value of the home,the nesteggs,the savings,the DREAM the job the future the future of our children and give it to the fat bankbarons to waste on salaries,bonusses,political contributions and the like
we have to press for the PAYBACK reform log to http://www.FireCongress.org

Ok, first of all, to Robert14, you might want to work on the grammar a little before you embarrass yourself with a post like that. Those who have been bitten by the "high - low" bug like myself can agree this legislation is a God send. Not many people with a checking account are using it with the intent to defraud the bank; however there are some out there who get a sense of entitlement from having a debit card. They think that it's a golden ticket and they don't have to deal with the consequences of overdrawing their account. The people on this post that believe this legislation will somehow empower them need to understand, that's not going to happen. Do you really think this would have even been brought to debate without someone saying, "How can the system be abused?" and putting a watchdog in place to prevent that kind of activity. You're going to still be responsible for over drafting your account, but now the bank won't be able to push you off of the cliff while you're standing on the edge.

Bob you already know my feelings about Bankers & Politicians . Anyone foolish to put their money in a bank in the first place, was just asking for a Banker or the Government to steal their money. 4 letters make life simple CASH

OVERDRAFT FEES SHOULD BE AN OPTION.
WHEN I PUT GAS IN MY CAR USING MY ATM. THE ATM
MACHINE SHOWS "WILL YOU EXCEPT THE $.45 CHARGE FOR
USING THE ATM. I DECIDE YES OR NO. WHEN YOU SWIPE
YOU ATM CARD, IT SHOULD TELL YOU IF YOUR PURCHASE WILL OVER CHARGE YOUR BANK ACCOUNT & IF YOU ARE WILLING TO EXCEPT THAT.

An over draft fee of say 10 dollars OK. a fee of 35 or 40 out of line. some of us make mistakes in the realm of a few pennies and suffer a 40 hit. For two or three cent in math. then do not know this for three to six business days in that time one has made depositors written checks and finds a growing number of fees mounting. snow ball effect. has nothing to do with being a dead beat but more aptly being beat dead by bank greed to cover higher priced affluent customers who pay no fees.

I would hope that the legislation will make the penalty fit the crime. My son-in-law and daughter live paycheck to paycheck and twice now, they've had to endure 100's of dollars in overdraft fees due to errors by the bank. Five of them were less than .25 cents. Seriously, a $33.00 charge for a .15 cent overdraft? And, it was proven to be a transposition by the bank. And, it accrued daily for 3 days. Plus, four overdrafts occured when four bills were paid less than an hour before their salary's direct deposit hit...all in the same day...but it was the employer's fault. They're still out the money. It's crap!

I hope you carry cash. Be prepared to watch your $5 McDonald's transaction be denied. Then be prepared to pay more to access your money. Banks will find other ways to make it up.

If people are too lazy to keep track of their own money and have to pay over draft fees to the banks, so be it. If their laziness is going to keep me from having to pay a monthly fee for my checking account, I am all for it. Don't try to pawn off your personal responsibility for managing your finances on the banks or the government.

Do you really think banks will not simply adjust their fees and call them something else?
I remember the days before overdrafts were common practice. Back then, the bank charged a "returned item" fee. I bet you'll see them come back. Also, most businesses that accept checks have a fee for a NSF item. Add that to the bank fees and the $35 fee now will become $60.

Now if I were a bank, I'd make sure that ant opt out agreement (for customers that do not want to pay overdraft fees) would also include an acknowledgement by the customer that overdrafts are fraud. Then if an attempt is made to use a debit card for an amount greater than the balance on hand, the store clerk would be advised to keep the card and return to issuer on the basis that an attempted fraud was taking place. Of course, a hefty reinstatement fee would apply to obtain a new card.

Be very careful what you wish for...you mjight just get it.

Banks make money on lending money. No one is ever going to doubt that. But the "Highway Robbery" must stop. Large well known Banks are doing it so openly these days, and seem to argue about it when asked to reverse fees. Why don't they charge a 5% intertest for the over draft money and forget ridicluous fees? The prime rate is only 3.25 %. Besides, these are the same customers they live off on day after day. Don't they teach these things at the MBA programs?

I am in favor of most of this - like many on here, I have been responsible with my balance but I do live paycheck to paycheck and a mistake of $1.34 recently cost me $300+ in fees. I went over by $1.34 on my last transaction in a day when I made 7 other transactions on my debit card. When all 7 debits were in pending, I was assed a fee of $37.50 for the pending transaction because they said they anticipated that I wouldn't make a deposit to cover it (if I realized I made a math mistake on one of my transactions in a busy day of errands I would have taken $2 out of my purse and gave it to them). Then, since they covered the last transaction first when they brought things out of pending, it was my electric bill which was larger than all of the other bills combined. They charged me for every other pending transaction. I had enough to cover the electric bill if all of the other bills hadn't gone first but they wouldn't even reverse that charge. This was on a Friday, of course, and then on Monday they charged me another $35.00 for being overdrawn for 3 days. Then $7.00 a day after that until Thursday when my direct deposit went in. OK so I live paycheck to paycheck and now I'm out $318.50 that puts me behind on my mortgage this month. They couldn't have called me to say I was over by $1.34? I had $40 in my purse. I have begged the branch manager to understand and split the fees with me or work with me in some way and he won't even consider it (says corporate would not allow it). A check place only cost $15 per hundred borrowed. How can a bank justify $37.50 to cover $1.34? I am now selling parts from my car to get back the $300 (extra folding seats, etc.). Try being broke in this economy and see what losing $300 does to you. I'm just lucky I will earn a paycheck again next week but this has really hurt!

What I think really stinks is a bank that charges you to cash a check drawn from their bank just because you don't have an account there. It's their check. what's the deal with that? just another way to legally steal money.

I have read almost all of the comments, and I know what everyone is going through because my bank was taken over by Chase, and their priorities were to make as much money from the Washington Mutual accounts. After shelling out over $500 a month for nine months from overdraft fees, I scoured the internet and found a bank that does not charge overdraft fees, only a small $19 fee each month. That beats the $33 (and may go higher) Chase was charging for even a $1 overdraft. The name of the bank is Probity Financial Services (ProbityFinancialServices.com), and they are very good with their customers. They were started to give us poor jerks a hand with this overdraft SCAM from the major banks. Look it up on the internet and I'm sure you will be happy with them!!

Banks need reform, sure. They can be rediculous in what they charge and their "business" practices. How about Consumer reform too? Can the government legislate that too? 50 years ago before Credit Cards and big banks, basic budgeting and running a household was taught in schools. That was dropped or at least less ephasized 20-30 years ago. I'm not even sure it's offered at all now, so its up to parents who didn't learn how to handle the basics to teach kids how to handle them. Most of us eventually figure it out, usually long after the damage has been done and maybe too late. How about teaching some basics. Not every kid is going to be college educated, successful, and rich and not have to worry about money. What ever happend to teaching kids a trade (auto mechanic, welder, plumber, homemaker) and how to handle the basics of living...bills, budgets, spending? There are plenty of ways to be successful and well off, not necessarily weathy, and it all starts by living within your means as much as possible and most importantly how to handle the bumps and mistakes we all make. Does spending $200 at the mall really make you a happier person in the long run when you get the CC bill or can't pay for the groceries?

To those who are up on their soap boxes defending the banks outrageous fees, bragging about perfect account histories and calling everyone that complains about being excessively punished "pathetic" . Kissing their collective corporate butts wont protect you should misfortune hit you. Also I have seen with my own two eyes that even when a fee is imposed due to an error on the Banks part they do not remove all of the fees stating it is against policy to do so. ROBBERY

What a bunch of whining, cry baby idiots! How can you not know how much money is in your account? Banks deserve to make as much as they can off of you so the resposible among us can continue to have fee free banking. Don't spend what you KNOW you don't have.

Banks earn more in fines then they make in profit. Imagine a Department store that made more in parking tickets and fines, then the products it sells in the store. When did banks get away from the business of money handling and become a fine collecting organization.

The banks are out of control and would probably have to file for bankruptsy if they didn't collect these overdraft and other unusual fees... I just had to clear up $400 worth of overdraft fees from Wachovia for a college granddaughter who also used her debit card for $2.41 gum, $5.04 McDonald's $4.59 at CVS etc. all ten debits went through a total of $51.07... she was never told when opening the account that she had automatic overdraft ... the system is set up for a "gotcha" to customers so banks can survive... don't banks realize that within a few years "their" customers will have moved to credit unions and other types of organizations who will have the customer's interest in first place for customer loyalty.

Check out ingdirect.com You have to have the funds in your account to pay any bills, otherwise they don't pay them. Plus you do collect monthly interest on the account.

You do have a debit/credit card, and you choose between several limits if you should go over your limit. You are not charged a transaction fee and/or over draft fee, but you are charged a low interest rate.

In response to those complaining about the high to low charges clearing your account. Our Visa file clears your accounts based on the time of the approval by Visa when you used the card. Normally that means that if you spent $80 at Target, then $5 at McD's, the $80 hits first because you went there first. One exception is gas stations. If you spend $60 on gas, then $5 at McD's, the $5 may hit first because gas stations usually get a temporary $1 approval at point of sale, and post the complete charge later that day to Visa, so the timing of their charge is later than actual use. May I point out that at the small Credit union I work at, we still take time to check all negative balance accounts to see why you are in the negative. If it's because a big charge hit before a small, I reverse your fees. If you were short less than $10, I reverse your fee. We do what we can, fee income is NOT a big money maker here. We do our part, but we have many members that know they will be short, bounce checks, pay the $25 fee and cover the redposit of the check with their next paycheck. They know it, they know how to avoid it because we talk to them, but they continue to do it. Some of them we have convinced to close the checking, use money orders instead. It forces you to wait until you have the cash. Our goal here is to help you and educate you, not suck all the fee income out of you.

I certainly don't have an issue with the personal responsibility angle. If you spend more money than you have, you should be responsible for the costs associated with lending you that money short term and processing the payments. I am not by any means a chronic or even occasional overdrafter. I have overdrafted, but only every so many years or so. Usually it is a miscalculation of my utility usage for that month (rates do fluctuate) that I may end up with too few funds in my account. Charge me a fee, as it is my responsibility to have funds available to pay all my debts. I do have a problem with the frequent disproportionate amount of the fee in relationship to the covered overdraft and the 3-5 business day lag time due to notice by snail mail. You'd think a fee in excess of $25 and some are much higher would at the very least pay for a voicemail message or an email being sent to notify you of a NSF situation. Since they don't make any attempt beyond a postage stamp, an envelope and a sheet of copy paper, I do not see how covering a charge of as little as $.01 should result in a fee as high as it is. I would guess it cost the bank a maximum of $1 to process such an event given the amount of electronic automation in the banking industry. When I have overdrafted it was nearly always over a weekend, when a deposit won't clear before the charges can be made, and it inevitably results in at least 2 or 3 overdraft fees for charges that wouldn't even equal 1 overdraft fee. Charge me when it is my mistake, but for god's sake make it reasonably proportionate to the cost of covering the overdraft.

Just read some of the remarks regarding personal responsibility. Usually overdrafts are spent with a debit card and the banks often allow transactions to go through up to $100 over your balance. If you are buying small necessary items you can spend quite a bit on overdraft fees. Not everyone is "overspending" on that 8th pair of shoes or $250 steak dinners. Please people, step down out of your ivory towers and see how hard many people struggle just to eat or buy toilet paper or keep gas in the car or buy a bus pass so they can get to their minimum wage job if they are lucky enough to have one. Yes, people should be accountable for irresponsible spending, but the banks need to be far more fair about it.

OMG...I cannot believe many of these posts! When will people realize we have got to take personal responsibility for our own actions.
The constant bickering about the companies who make profits (including banks)is ridiculous. When will people realize with out these "for profit" companies most of you would not have a freaking job! Without a job you couldn't pay a bill anyway, so why would you worry if you had to pay overdraft fees.
Yes, the fees are over-the-top, but come on, just realize that what ever bills are due YOU must have the money to pay those bills. I understand that sometimes mistakes happen with addition and subtraction but if that happens only once in a while, then what is the big deal for $29...if you overdraw your account on a regular basis then the fees add up, and that is your own darn fault! So don't spend more than you earn...and thank your lucky stars for your job and those who make that job possible (most of the time those jobs come from businesses like the banks!)

It's true that banks have wily ways. They will post a deposit made first thing in the day last and post the transactions for the day first so it appears one is in overdraft that day and they will also sometimes make a cash deposit pending and nail customers that way. It is worth the trouble to go into your bank and have them pull up the real time transactions and have them remove the unfair fees. In fact, real time postings should be required as part of the new legislation and kudos for making the fees reflect the overdraft (it is ridiculous to charge 34$ for a $3 overdraft for instance - or to charge 132$ for three small overdraft charges in a row totalling, say, $15). Times are very hard for many, forcing people to make deposits as they spend and have a very tight margin for error in their accounts.

I love the nut that is mad at me for being holier than thou....Why is 'personal responsibility' such a bad thing? Why do you think this country is 'sue-crazy'? because no one takes responsibilty for themselves anymore. And to you who depend on the ATM or online balance inquiry- get real. I have been in the business for 17 years. I know how it works. If you have $500.00 deposited, I send a file to Visa letting them know this. You then can use your debit card at Wal-mart and spend $400.00. This is deducted by Visa from the $500.00 my file told them you have. This charge does not clear your actual account right away, the file is sent to us a day later. So if you stop by the credit union a few hours after Wal-mart and pull out $200 in cash, when the debit card file posts the next day, you don't have the money to cover it. This is not the banks fault, it is yours for not paying attention! Any questions?

I understand that credit unions want you to save money, however if you have checking and a savings account at said credit union, why does the federal government care and/or need to monitor the transfer of that money between the two accounts. It's my money. Why can't I keep a majority of it in my savings and transfer it on line as needed. Why should I be charged a fee if I do this more than ten times a month. Or what if I have a few deposits and want to transfer a percentage into my savings each time. I could understand the "no more than 10 transfers per month"if I was transferring money from one bank to another, but within the same bank and in my case a credit union?? I am beginning to see the same shannigans at my credit union that I hear about with regard to other banks. Credit union or bank; it's all the same. AND if you are living pay check-to-pay check as so many of us are these days, what difference does it make?

Thank God for being able to overdraw my account. It has nothing to do with personal responsibility - and everything to do with the outrageous cost to live. If I could not overdraw my account, I would NEVER be able to afford my MEDICATIONS. Guess I'm just another irresponsible sickie.....

To all those who preach that we should all take more care with our accounting:

A) Did you know that it is legal for banks to lie to you about your account balance? That's right, you could check your account before writing a check or using your debit card, and be purposely fooled by your bank into overdrawing your account. I wonder how this happened?

B) It is not just the fact that we overdraw that is the problem, it is the amount of the fee compared to how much we overdraw. Think about a common situation where one overdraws their account by $10 and gets hit with a $30 fee. These are re-paid by the account holder when your next paycheck is deposited, usually within one week. In that situation, you are paying an annualized interest rate of 15,600%. Sound fair?

C) The fees have a waterfall effect on people. When the bank takes fees from an account holder, that is just that much less money they have to live on when the next paycheck is deposited. That leaves the account-holder even shorter on money the next week or month and causes more O/D fees when they have to buy silly things like, oh, maybe, FOOD.

D) What would be so wrong with having our bank warn us when we are about to make a mistake? Isn't that just good service? Remember when banks gave their clients service instead of grief?

E) Come to think of it, I remember when banks gave 5% interest on passbook savings, did not charge such fees, and did not even issue credit cards (it was the 1960s and early 1970s; I was a kid then). Now you are lucky to get 1% interest on savings, they charge fees as often as they can, and they issue credit cards earning them 19.9% interest minimum. You are not forced to take a credit card, but my point is that I don't understand how banks can claim that they need these fees to be profitable when they had been profitable for centuries without them, and gave their customer better terms to boot!

In short, don't be such a shill for the banks, you only make yourself look like a tool.

Although I understand why many people on this thread have stated that irresponsibility is the cause of overdrafting, I must disagree. There have been many instances when my husband and I have suffered multiple overdrafts at one time due to bank sneakiness and not our own mistakes.

At one point, Wells Fargo charged us a $20 fee for a service we had cancelled on our account. They "forgot" we had cancelled and assessed the fee before a series of smaller transactions ($3 at McDonald's, etc), resulting in three overdraft fees--$105.

Once again, at another banking institution, we made a cash deposit to cover some bills that needed to be paid. The bank processed the bills first, and then the cash. They said that cash deposits had to "pend" until the next business day. Overdraft, overdraft, overdraft, overdraft... Even when the money was "pending" to the account (in my opinion, cash should never have to pend).

Furthermore, what some of you people deem irresponsibility is simply basic human survival. There have been months, especially during periods of un- or under-employment, that we just didn't have enough to survive. Many people have been and are in this position. We had to deliberately overdraft our account in order to pay a critical bill or put gas in the vehicle. The problem was that instead of getting one overdraft, which we could barely handle, the bank's practices rearranged things and instead gave us multiple overdrafts, which sank us for the next several months. There was one time when we faced over $800 in overdraft fees alone, simply because the bank reordered things from highest amount to lowest. Our $5 McDonald's meal became a $40 luxury.

The problem with overdraft fees is they prey upon the people who are barely surviving in the first place. To someone who barely makes ends meet every month, one overdraft fee is terrible. Two or more can be financial murder.

Sounds like the dead beets are crying again pay you bills on time don't get overdrafts like the rest of us.If goverment or congress gets involved helps the dead beets somewill pick up the guess who that is.

Judging by the last few posts, the banking industry reads this blog and is very opposed to this regulation. While I tend to run away from anything Barney Frank touches, this would be good reform under these guidelines: 1. Banks can still offer the overdraft protection but the user has to opt-in themselves.
2. Banks can offer credit card style services on their debit cards in replace of overdraft "protection" where the overdraft is covered but at credit card style interest rates and is paid off first when money is deposited into that account.
3. Banks can not charge for an account if it was previously a free account. Grandfathered in..

The banks are making money on their customers. I am so tired of people saying that it's not the bank's fault when from the Federal bank on down...IT'S A SCAM. People aren't even able to be without a bank account so they have made the option to not use the bank nearly impossible.
I don't care what anybody says...most people have at some time had an overdraft fee(s). As Americans we are so trained to believe that not having money is our fault when really sometimes things just happen. In reality if you don't have money you were probably born that way...since aout 90% of people die in the same class they are born into.
Currently almost everyone is in debt to the bank. I personally can't name one single person I know; rich or poor who does not owe the bank. If the banks all fail then maybe we could really be free. We as Americans are currently paying for fees that we should not have too; including taxes and the cost of banks to operate when banks were established for consumers. If they all fail...GOOD! In reality the affect of the banks and society has made people who don't have money out to be bums. This is why we buy more and spend more and ultimately owe so much money that we are forever in debt. Banks are crooked...this is evident in there high to low check practice. For the most part banks are not at all consumer friendly...if this was the practice of banks then they probably would not rely on stealing money from people to be successful.
I do appreiciate the advice about the credit union also and am seriously thinking about closing my account down with TCF...they have the worse service.
In addition I work for a real estate company, that specializes in doing short sales on homes in foreclosure; and talk to lenders daily. They are in the business of lending money for mortgages to people who cannot afford it. Not everyone is a financial expert; therefore if banks continue I think they should be the experts in finances and should have known better than to lend the money that they did to all of the people who were buying homes...look at what the banks have done to our economy. Do you really believe the banks did not know what they were doing? Right now banks are experiencing huge losses due to profits that they made on lending money to people who they should not have and in my opinion it serves them right. I also agree there is a matter of personal responsibility, but when you think about the amount of people losing their homes, and how many were first time home buyers who thought they could afford what they were buying, and relied on their financial institutions to advise them. As for banking I have seen the level of service you get at the bank and the tellers most of the time are as qualified as the person who makes your fries at McDonald's. I think this is a matter of many organizations and people blowing off their responsibilities. Banks are at fault for not working on behalf of their customer's and consumers are at fault because they are not doing their research. I do however think some people just don't understand money and its value. Overall this irresponsibility has effected our country on such a large scale that banks had better do something about it, and if that means getting the government involved in regulating them then that is what it means. Saying that people need to be responsible for there finances at the bank is like saying people should be respnsible for diagnosing their own ailments when going to the Dr or getting a quality product when going to the store. As a consumer you go to the bank because they are the people who know and they need to be held responsible for what has happened in this country.

I am so tired of the people who have "perfect" banking acct. history! Great if they really do, but a lot of us are being swindled by unethical banks. I used to have a "perfect" history also. I keep account of my spending and my balances as best as I can. The problem? The balances online and on the telephone are not (according to the bank) what the balance "really" is. It lags behind. They also told me that the "available balance" shown online which supposedly takes into account all "pending transactions" also can not be relied on. More than once I had "pending transactions" sit for a week or more without posting,until something with a higher amount showed up, then suddenly the higher one goes through immediately (surprise, surprise) and only then does the old transaction hit, thereby making the account "overdrawn" and getting a $35 fee. I have had two items sit in pending with "available" showing them accounted for and the "available" still showing positive, yet when both hit they charge some sort of "processing fee" of $5-$10 therby causing an overdraft where there would not have been one and then charging the overdraft fee! One month my large "pending" sat for almost two and one half weeks before they processed it. I figured they were waiting for something else to come in to help cause and overdraft since even they could not explain to me why it sat there for so long. I have "Free" overdraft protection (linked to my "way to save" account), but since Wachovia became Wells Fargo,they keep trying to charge me $10 if they transfer the funds from my savings account! They have fought me over returning the $10 even though it was against my account agreement and still wanted to charge the $35 OD fee for an overdraft that their fee caused! I've had it withbanks that charge you for making "too many" deposits, talking to a live person either in person or on the phone, charging you if you want a copy of your bank statement, if you want to transfer money from your savings in their bank to your checking in their bank, and any other d*** thing they can dream up. When my next check goes into the bank, I'm closing the account and going back to cash and money orders!

How come 15 years ago when technology was less integrated, a bank could stop a transaction at a money access machine if you didn't have enough money in your account.
Currently, most banks have on-line banking and have technology integrated into every facet of their business yet they can't inform you when you are about to go over your balance at a money access machine?

Laws and policies are made when people take advantage of situations. Credit card rate hikes for no reason. Approving mortgages for people who can't afford them. And banks creating bank-favored over-draft situations to people who can least afford it.

Fees aren't always about "irresponsible people who can't manage ther finances." Everyone makes mistakes. Debits should come out of your account in the order they're processed, not highest to lowest; if I don't have enough $ in my account the transaction should be declined; my balance should reflect what's available. Not only that but TD Bank charges you $35 if your account is overdrawn for more than 5 days and every 5 days thereafter. How is that fair? If you caused your account to be overdrawn it's obviously because you don't have enough money and a lot of people get paid bi-weekly therefore your account is going to be overdrawn for more than 5 days. I shouldn't be charges for that. Some bank fees are absolutely unethical!

It's not the overdraft fees that are a problem in my opinion.

It's the Credit card interest rates, that banks are allowed to charge. 29.99% apr is nothing but out and out usury.

I can get better rates from the local "loan shark"...

Just this month, I for the first time in a lot of years, overdrew one of my accounts due to a momentary lapse in paying attention while banking online. I scheduled a payment, forgot to do the transfer to cover it, and ended up with two overdraft fees, and a third "extended overdraft fee", when my computer crashed the same week.

I don't mind the first two fees, they were my fault.
Think the third one was a bit excessive, but hey.. I screwed up. (Had never overdrawn an account in the past 15-20 years).

I do believe though that ATM cards should automatically refuse the transaction if the money isn't there.

I also believe that Credit cards should also refuse the transaction if the limit is exceeded at point of sale.

I think the $35.00-$40.00 overdraft fees are excessive, since it takes less than 2 cents per transaction to process the whole thing. (hey, it's all electronic, there is no poor accountant s.o.b. sitting on a stool in a dingy poorly lighted corner doing it by hand anymore).

High to Low...Low to high it's not a problem if you keep an accurate ledger and don't spend money you don't have. If payday is Friday and you have direct deposit, don't spend that money before Friday. I work at a bank and 90% of the people who overdraw their account do it intentionally knowing they don't have the funds to cover the transaction. Online banking, mobile banking, paper statments, telephone banking, pen and paper...you should always know what you have in the bank. We are not hiding anything. Someone else said it "banks are not non-profit". We provide a service and charge a fee. If you don't like apples, don't buy them. If you don't like the fees, don't overdraw your account.

I think our entire banking regulatory enviroment needs change to a more guidance based system where banks have to abide by the spirit and intent of the legistation. This would allow oversite agencies to prevent these bank from getting involved mis-represented products like derivatives etc. Excess Banks fees are just a symptom or a broken business model like...just like the airlines.

Once again, responsible individuals will get hurt by this. I carefully monitor my money and do not overdraft my account. I also get free checking and free checks. When this goes through, it looks like I'll have to pay for my checking/checks because people who can't control their spending whine when they have to pay the price. Same thing happened with Credit Cards (no late payment, perfect customer - then my interest rate goes up).

Steve from Cleveland, it is not always a matter of being on top of things financially. A lot of us are living paycheck to paycheck due to decreased wages, job loss, etc. Sometimes our margins are so tight that one little oversight or perhaps an unforeseen charge, hidden charge, or unauthorized charge can lead to something that cascades into a several hundred dollar amount. To compound that, alerts are sent via snail mail so you may have overdraft several times before you are even aware of it. As the article states many people are enrolled in OD protection without even being aware of it. I agree that if there are insufficient funds etc transactions should not be allowed go through, but I think the major issue is that banks are aggressively and deliberately trying to acquire other peoples money in some very questionable ways and these companies need to have these practices regulated, because they can legally bury these terms in fine print and legal jargon.

As for all of you stating we need to take responsibility for our accounts and who have never bounced a check, YEAH, I am so happy for you!
But what about us who have health problems which causes us to make mistakes in our check register??? That is human error, and this world runs on human actions! I made a mistake in my check book and added a check instead of deducting it. The result was a cascading effect of bounced checks due to the overdraft fees eating up any available funds so that other transactions in turn get covered, but at $29 each. I ended up overdrawn almost $1000 as the check I made a mistake on was a large amount of money. I am disabled and have a low fixed income so I had no way to repay this money. Sterling Bank saved me by putting me on the fresh start plan.... They turn your overdraft amount into a loan and restore your account to a zero balance so you can keep using it. However, you lose your automatic overdraft benefit and if you overdraw you can lose your account. The first payment for my loan was due on the 19th, I screwed up and thought it was the 21st so I made a deposit on the 20th to cover my fresh start payment. Well, they charged me $16 for for a default on my fresh start loan, and closed my account and took the rest of my money, so I have no money at all.
Also, do you realize how many people no longer even keep check registers??? They just do a balance check at the ATM or on line, and if the money is there, they spend it. I think debit cards have started this irresponsible trend of no check register, we need to encourage people to manage their money better and keep track!! I kept track, and I still got burned. So we are not all irresponsible as some of you seem to think!!!!! The system definitely needs an over-haul as we now have merchants automatically deducting our bounced checks plus their fee as part of their policy of accepting checks, this too causes cascading effect of overdraft problems. But I know it is cheaper than trying to track down the check signer and make them pay in cash. PLEASE COME UP WITH A SOLUTION TO THIS BANKING NIGHTMARE!!!

The banks know your balance all the time when making transactions in the U.S. Every electronic transaction goes through a series of checks. At any time, the bank could decline the transaction if the amount exceeds the balance in your account.

Its a blatant scam when they charge overdraft fees.

If 1000-2000 banks fold, so be it. They should have never based their primary revenue stream from overdraft fees. That is not a sound business plan.

Simple...use online banking and dont write checks. I have not written a check in years and I can see my balance when I send the payment out. No chance of an overdraft fee. Most of this is the consumers fault unfortunatly...sort of like buying a house or car you cannot afford. YES banks are gouging people, but only if you let them.

Most banks have crossed the line between providing a service for a fee and shaking down their very own customers. I have seen banks charge fees on their own fees once an overdraft has occurred, as well as not listing fees charged on statements. Add to this the lapse in usury laws, which has resulted in banks actually charging close to 80 interest in one case, as well as targeting young borrowers for rates that amount to over 100% - 300% per year. Any congress that allows this practice are criminals themselves, accessories before the fact. I cut up my cards, which does not make me better than anyone on this forum, but it does make me better than the banks!

Recently I was charged a $35 fee by my bank for a "balance transfer" check that Chase Visa decided had expired (even though it had another couple days to go) and ultimately declined. (Note to the self-grandizing idiots posting "Manage your money better": I DO) This was another variant of the checking reordering scam, in that I had perfectly sufficient funds, but they decided to play a game with the available time window on the check.

I'd like to know what the $35 covered me for? In the end, my bank STILL pulled the intended balance transfer out, so it only delayed the inevitable. And get this! Chase *ALSO* charged $35 for my apparently horrific crime of presenting the check too close to the expiration date. So together, these financial institutions got me for $70 when they could have just denied the transfer & saved us all a headache. No, they let it go through to PURPOSELY incur the fee.

To me, "Insufficient funds" is at least honest. When you reach your credit limit, no credit card lets you go over & then spanks you for it later. They just deny the charge.

Yes, Mr. & Mrs. "I balance my checkbook", irresponsible people shouldn't be constantly overdrafting. We know. However, it would seem that that's a convenient cover story for the reality that banks are running a scam on the rest of us. For the American people, maybe it'll lead to a bit of embarrassment, but at least these stupid charges will finally be over with. And too bad: let the banks that depend on this revenue fail.

I think those defending this practice would also defend a pickpocketter, saying that the victim should've "watched their wallet better." That's BS, and only the jerks working for these banks (or their wealthy corporate ilk) buy it. Banks make a ton off our backs already - and now I'm supposed to feel sorry for them & blame regular people?!? Get real.

To all of you people preaching personal responsibilty... just wait till you get that terminal illness diagnosis and you don't have enough insurance or none for that matter, and your "responsible financial" practices take downward spiral. Do you people think your exempt from uninsurable illnesses and tragedies?? I hope your're as prepared as you think you are, cause stuff happens.

I bank at Wachovia I affectionately call Walk-All-Over-Ya. Years ago I tranferred 2000.00 in to a ODP account. Cause sometimes bills are due before I get paid and late fees are just as bad. Anyway, a few months back they started charging 10.00 for every transfer. Fortunately it is rare a transfer is made but still that's 10.00. I called and asked why they started charging this fee on my Over Draft Protection account that was to have not charge, which is why I opened it in the first place. Some garbage about the economy, blah blah blah.....Basically they do it because they can and I have not say in the matter. This should not surprise me it was not too long ago that they would charge you 5.00 to 10.00 just to talk to a customer service rep on the phone.

To be honest I don't like the fees but do feel that banks should have the right to charge a reasonable fee as a penalty. But the deal of paying "High to Low" in order to be able to charge more fees is simply unfair practice. I have a friend that this happened to. If her bank had not paid the highest check first - then 4 of the smaller checks would have been paid just fine with only the one 35.00 charge. But instead they paid the highest check causing her to be charged 140.00 in fees and bounced the other 4 checks that only totalled 25.00. This person is one that lives pay check to pay check and it is hard to pay bills in the first place and the 140.00 caused undue hardship on her and her family.....

My point is if the government can bailout the banks and wallstreet when they make poor financial judgment calls they the little guy should be helped at well.

If the banks would lower the fees to something more reasonable then it would work. How can you justify charging someone $34 for an overdraft when it might only cost the bank a few dollars to recover? I know that they want to discourage people from overdrafting the account but this is not the way. Look at how insurance companies charge for your premium now. It has almost nothing to do with your driving record because they look at your credit score? Does this make ANY sense? According to them it does. They just know that they can get more by using that excuse!

Call me crazy but I have decided to bring back the old "money-in-the-mattress" idea. Yes, I will keep a checking account but for the most part it will be a strictly cash life for me until the banks start serving customers instead of stealing from us. I am closing my current account due to the involuntary overdraft policy at my bank (TD Bank). The bank I am switching to does not have this policy. I've taken most of my savings out of my other bank (Bank of America) because it is getting so little interest there's no point in keeping it there. I did not close this account because B of A is voluntarily ending the overdraft ripoff with its checking customers ... Listen, I am so angry about the corruption at banks that I had to do something and as a consumer the best way to fight is with my dollars. I don't have many of them, like most people these days, but what I do have, I refuse to "donate" to a bank like it is a charity! Keeping my money in cash at home means I don't have to pay ATM fees to withdraw it, I don't have to pay overdraft fees if I figure out the numbers wrong, and I don't have to pay bank fees -- and I won't be letting anyone use my money but me. Until I see some reform, I think I'll be very happy managing my money the way my mother used to. The banks got bailed out this year -- I don't want to hear that they need to steal from us to stay in business.

Oh, please stop with the "personal responsibility" crap. The bottom line is, if there is no money in the account, DON'T AUTHORIZE CHARGES TO THAT ACCOUNT. I knew how much money I had in my account so, how come when I took my mom on a birthday cruise, MY CARD WAS DECLINED ON THE SHIP? I called the bank and come to find out the hotel charged an extra $250 night on Monday by mistake. So instead of the bank declining charges when my balance reached $0, my card was declined on a FRIDAY night with a balance of -$300! And since it was a Friday night, the hotel couldn't refund the charges until the following Monday so I was broke the last two days on our cruise. The bank did reverse the charges that Monday but that didn't help me the last two days of our trip.