BANK OVERDRAFT NEWS ARTICLE EXCERPT INDEX
August 11, 2010
St. Petersburg Times, "Why $30 overdraft charged for $2 cup of coffee bought by debit card still raises legal stink"
Wake up and good morning. All those complaints by bank customers that their financial institutions gouged them by ordering account overdrafts to maximize fees may now be reaching a tipping point. Federal lawsuits regarding overdraft fees now consolidated into one class-action suit in Florida this week were given a legal road map by a judge's ruling in a related case in California. More...
August 10, 2010
San Jose Business Journal, "Wells Fargo ordered to pay $203M in restitution for overdraft fees"
Wells Fargo must return $203 million to customers because it manipulated the processing of customer debit card purchases to maximize overdraft fees, a judge held Tuesday. In connection with a class action lawsuit by California consumers, U.S. District Court Judge William Alsup held in a 90-page opinion that San Francisco-based Wells violated California law. More...
August 10, 2010
The New York Times, "Wells Fargo Loses Ruling on Overdraft Fees"
A federal judge on Tuesday ordered Wells Fargo to pay California customers $203 million in restitution for claims that it had manipulated transactions to maximize the overdraft fees it charged. Instead of processing transactions in the order in which they were received, Wells Fargo put through the largest to smallest, a judge in San Francisco found. More...
August 10, 2010
Federal Court Finds Wells Fargo Improperly Assessed Overdraft Fees, Orders $203 Million in Restitution
In a class action lawsuit by California consumers charging that Wells Fargo Bank manipulated its processing of customer debit card purchases to maximize overdraft fees, U.S. District Court Judge William Alsup held in a 90-page opinion that Wells Fargo violated California law. More...
March 16, 2010
Los Angeles Times, "Don't praise BofA for deciding to stop mistreating customers"
Lawmakers and consumer advocates have heaped accolades on Bank of America for its announcement that it will stop hitting customers with $35 overdraft fees any time they don't have enough cash to cover a debit-card purchase. It's understandable that folks who regularly criticize banks would want to hand out milk and cookies when they see something beneficial for consumers. But it seems pretty pathetic to sing a company's praises just because it's decided to stop mistreating customers. More...
March 11, 2010
Charlotte Observer, "No more $35 cups of coffee courtesy of BofA"
We're all for people managing their money responsibly. But when a bank charges a customer a $35 overdraft fee for going $5 into the red on her checking account, that's a 700 percent interest rate. Predatory lenders got banned from the state for a lot less than that. More...
February 23, 2010
The New York Times, "Banks Pressure Customers to Keep Fees Rolling In"
For many households trying to improve their finances, tossing out pitches from the bank has become almost automatic. But in recent weeks, Chase has been fanning special letters out to consumers with an offer that it urges them not to refuse. More...
January 8, 2010
Huffington Post, "Bank of America Employee Fired After Helping Customers"
Bank of America fired Jackie Ramos after she took a stand against the bank's $15 "convenience" charges and $39 over-the-limit fees so she could sleep better at night. "There was something inherently evil about my job," the 23-year-old said in a YouTube video she uploaded on Nov. 27, two days after her termination. More...
January 6, 2010
Los Angeles Times, "Banks take revenge for new consumer rules"
Happy new year. Now pay up. That's the message from our friends in the banking industry, who are introducing all sorts of fees and changes as a slew of regulations take effect designed to make financial heavyweights friendlier to customers. From costlier checking accounts to higher credit card fees, banks are scrambling to find ways to compensate for as much as $50 billion in annual revenue that could be lost because of the tougher rules and requirements. More...
November 12, 2009
CNN.com, "Fed cracks down on overdraft fees"
The Federal Reserve on Thursday released a new rule to prohibit banks from automatically enrolling customers in overdraft protection programs, which charge fees when consumers spend more than they have. More...
October 20, 2009
Sacramento Business Journal, "Banks target of class action lawsuits over fees"
Several of the nation's largest banks are the targets of lawsuits seeking class action status that were filed Monday in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. More...
October 19, 2009
Associated Press, "Dodd offers protection from bank overdraft fees"
Bank customers who overdraw their checking accounts would get new protections from excessive penalties under legislation proposed Monday by the Senate banking committee chairman. More...
October 15, 2009
ConsumerAffairs.com, "Despite Rules Changes, Banks Still Depend On Overdraft Fees"
Amid consumer outrage and Congressional pressure, banks are beginning to make changes to their overdraft fees. But they aren't about to wean themselves off fees altogether, and that has consumer groups demanding more reforms. More...
October 9, 2009
The Baltimore Sun, "Two Maryland victims of banking system meet with President Obama"
A Baltimore woman and a retired city police officer were among five victims of the financial system invited to meet privately with President Barack Obama at the White House today. More...
October 9, 2009
The Wall Street Journal, "Obama Steps Up Push for Consumer Financial Protection Agency"
Ratcheting up his drive to create a new consumer financial protection agency, President Barack Obama took direct aim at the industry groups who oppose his regulatory overhaul, calling their criticism "completely false." More...
October 9, 2009
Los Angeles Times, "The Price of Overdraft Protection"
Open a checking account today and you'll be handed a plastic card that lets you withdraw cash from ATM machines or make purchases by transferring money from your account to a merchant's. More...
October 7, 2009
BusinessInsider.com, "Americans Spend More On Overdraft Fees Than They Spend On Fresh Vegetables"
Overdraft fees have been getting tons of attention lately, including Congressional scrutiny -- and some banks are cutting back. But a new report underscores just how much financial institutions are profiting from the fees and how much they hurt average Americans. More...
October 6, 2009
AFP, "Study: Explosion of bank overdraft fees in US"
US banks billed their customers 24 billion dollars in penalty fees for overdrawing their accounts last year, a 35 percent increase over the previous year, a study has found. More...
September 9, 2009
The New York Times, "The Card Game: Overspending on Debit Cards Is a Boon for Banks"
When Peter Means returned to graduate school after a career as a civil servant, he turned to a debit card to help him spend his money more carefully. So he was stunned when his bank charged him seven $34 fees to cover seven purchases when there was not enough cash in his account, notifying him only afterward. More...
|
