3 ms·
This article burys the lede -- from the last paragraph: Take the overdraft fee, a punishment for desperate or careless customers that netted banks $15 billion
by United857 8y ago
This article burys the lede -- from the last paragraph:
Take the overdraft fee, a punishment for desperate or careless customers that netted banks $15 billion in 2016. As many as half of overdraft fees aren’t assessed at an ATM, where customers can see their balance, but at the point of sale—debit card transactions at the counters of shops and restaurants. And the majority of overdraft fees, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau reported in 2014, came on transactions of $24 or under. Not people stretching to make a big purchase, in other words. Just trying to get lunch.
Those fees are a big source of revenue for the banks. Nothing about convenience for the customer.
- bena 8y agoDo they still do the thing where they structure debits to maximize penalties? Say you have $100 in your account and 5 pending transactions: $6, $12, $1, $30, and $95. In that chronological order. The bank clears the $95 first, then the $6 which overdrafts you, then the rest, overdrafting you 3 more times. Whereas if they processed chronologically, you'd only overdraft the $95. Regardless, the person whose account it is does bear some responsibility for overdrafting, even for lunch.
- exegete 8y agoMy bank actually orders transactions to make it so that I avoid the overdraft fees. If I get paid one day and also make a debit that would overdraft my account if the payment didn't clear first, they will place the payment first then the debit.
- bena 8y agoThat's good of them. I mean, that's just good customer service and they'll probably keep you as a customer for far longer by not nickel and diming you at every chance.
- scarface74 8y agoAt least with my bank, if you don’t have the available cash on your card and you don’t have enough in a linked savings account to cover a transaction, you will be declined when you try to pay.