Banks make $38bn from overdraft fees

[frigidmagi]

FT.com

[quote]US banks stand to collect a record $38.5bn in fees for customer overdrafts this year, with the bulk of the revenue coming from the most financially stretched consumers amid the deepest recession since the 1930s, according to research. The fees are nearly double those reported in 2000.

The finding is likely to increase public hostility towards the financial sector, which has been under political pressure to ease the burden on consumers by increasing credit availability and lending more fairly after being bailed out by taxpayers.
EDITOR’S CHOICE
In depth: US banks - May-07
US banks’ overdraft charges under fire - Aug-09

The Federal Reserve is working on rules on overdraft fees, and rules on customer charges could be a priority of the Obama administration’s proposed Consumer Protection Agency if approved by Congress.

Data from Moebs Services, a research company, show that the crisis has prompted many banks to lift charges on overdrafts and credit cards in order to boost profits.

The median bank overdraft fee has this year rose from $25 to $26, according to Moebs, the first time it has gone up in a recession for more than 40 years.

“Banks are returning to a fee-driven model and overdraft fees are the mother lode,â€

[The Cleric]

I don't sympathize much with habitual overdrafters. Do it on occasion, and you can get the bank to waive the fee. Do it a lot, well, be more responsible.

[Norseman]

In Norway it is generally impossible to overdraw your account since we tend to use debit cards rather than checks (protip: If you visit Norway you *must* have a VISA card). If you manage anyway, usually by way of an ATM, the overdraft is treated as a very high interest loan.

[General Havoc]

I've never paid an overdraft fee, though in fairness I don't habitually draw over my accounts. The one or two occasions when I have done so, one phone call has cleared up.

[Comrade Tortoise]

I don't sympathize much with habitual overdrafters. Do it on occasion, and you can get the bank to waive the fee. Do it a lot, well, be more responsible.

I have on occassion overdrafted an account and it was usually due to the bank's error, and I still could never get them to waive the fee. In one instance they actually took a week to process a check I deposited, while still telling me I had an available balance higher than what I spent. Lost a good chunk of my financial aid to a cascading overdraft.

Another case of it was similar. Took three days to process a paycheck, 30 cent overdraft, then subsequent cascading overdraft. Then they decided to charge 7 USD/day negative balance fees. By the time my next meager paycheck came I was over 400 in the hole... I could never pay that down (being a paid research assistant at 8.25 an hour at ten hours a week or so... normally enough to pay basic living expenses like food... the rest covered by financial aid) so I had to open a new account and the bank took me to collections refusing (and I did try) to waive the fee.

[The Cleric]

You have to make angry faces at them. Angry faces work well.