Consumer advocates have had many concerns about banks’ inability to clearly explain the procedure for charging overdraft fees to their customers. Because there is quite a bit of confusion, customers are often unaware of the charged fees and unsure how to tackle or avoid them.
However, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has taken measures to redesign the forms banks use to explain the fee procedures. The new guidelines are still in the testing phase, and it will take considerable time to make them official.
What are Overdraft Fees?
An overdraft happens when insufficient money is in your bank account to cover purchases or bills. However, the bank takes it upon itself to pay it and then charges you a certain overdraft fee, usually $34 per payment, which can increase with the amount they have to pay. This fee must be paid to the bank in addition to the amount they paid for the original bill. These fees were mainly related to checks in the past, but with changing consumer spending patterns and needs, they are now more frequently charged on debit cards. If you have been careless and spent more than you should have, you must get ready to be charged substantial overdraft fees.
Concerns
For a long time, there have not been any regulations on banks to charge these fees, and some of them have even been heavily fined for deceptive marketing practices that fortified customers to register for overdraft services. However, bankers’ associations and the Protection Bureau have been closely working together to minimize the burden on consumers and bring the fees under regulation.
Now, banks must ask for permission from their customers before paying for the shortfall. Instances related to spending too much or withdrawing more money than they have in the account can be avoided just by rejecting the requested transaction. Banks do not need the customer’s consent for overdraft fees on checks and online payments, making it a notable concern for many people.
Apart from all the inconvenience caused by these fees, some customers feel this is expedient if they miss a periodic payment. However, most working-class families view these fees as an unnecessary burden on them as the ones paying the maximum amount of overdraft fees are only a tiny percentage. There have been concerns regarding the authenticity of overdrafts affecting the general population. Still, it has been reaffirmed that the figures are derived from 40 million bank accounts, which is quite a large number.
Malpractices
It has been observed that many banks market these overdrafts as “protection,” which is more of a favorable term. Customers are advised to think before consenting to these services, as they may be unaware of its consequences. Also, if you don’t want to opt for extra services, there are no mentioned benefits in the current form. Only the cost of these fees can be relied on as they are mentioned and charged.
How to Avoid Overdraft Fees
Signing up for alerts on your bank account is one of the best ways to know if your account balance has been altered. You can also link multiple accounts together, forcing your bank to charge from other bank accounts, and the fees can be avoided. This may cost you a little, but it will be significantly less than you would have paid otherwise. For debit purchases, you always have the option to opt out. At any moment that you feel that overdraft services are no longer required, all you need to do is request that the bank cancel them.
Avoiding overdraft fees can be one of the most vital financial decisions because it could cost you way more than you ever expected.
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