So much for changes in overdraft fees. I use Bank of America and called them on Saturday to ask when I would get credit for a direct deposit sent on Saturday. The rep. told me definitely Monday. It was credited on Tuesday and they charged me 70.00 for 2 overdrafts from purchases I wouldn't have nade if they hadn't misinformed me. I called and told them the whole story, spent 20 minutes trying to convince them to erase the overdrafts, and got nothing from them but whiney exuses as to why they couldn't help me. I'll smile when I read about their doors closing.
More Banks Change Overdraft Fee Rules
The bandwagon is getting full.
After Bank of America's (NYSE: BAC) announced that it was making major changes to its overdraft fee rules, other major banks joined in scaling back their overdraft fees and ending some of their sleazier policies.
Here is a rundown of the changes:
Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) will stop charging customers overdraft fees when they overdraw by $5 or less. Plus they will lower the number of overdraft fees they will charge you in one day to 4 (down from then). No word yet on when this new policy takes effect.
Chase (NYSE: JPM) won't charge overdraft fees if you overdraw by $5 or less and the maximum number of fees in one day goes from 6 down to 3.
Perhaps most importantly, Chase will begin processing your debit card and ATM withdrawals in the order they occur--sounds logical, right? But right now, they process the biggest dollar amounts first so they drain your account faster and rack up more overdraft fees!
And they wonder why Congress is coming after them.
It's amazing what fear of new government regulation will do!
While these new changes are great news for customers, don't relax just yet. This is really just one battle in the bigger war against outrageous bank fees.
In 2007, banks made $28 billion from overdraft fees. Do you really think banks are just going to walk away from the massive profits they were making on overdraft fees?
Of course not...and that's bad news for the 74% of us who never incur an overdraft fee because you can bet they'll be looking for some other way to get that money out of your pocket and into their coffers.
Read More In: Banking
Ken and Daria Dolan have hosted their own national radio program for 22 years, anchored their own television shows on CNN, authored six books on money matters, served as money contributors on CBS This Morning and have now launched a comprehensive web site and free e-letter at Dolans.com.
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