Overdraft protection “expensive”?
March 23, 2009 | LA Times, alternatives, industry | Comments (0)The media is finally catching on. We missed this from last friday’s Los Angeles Times:
“They [banks] say they’re covering your transaction as a courtesy,” said Wright, a self-employed businessman from Dayton, Ohio. “But they’re making a killing. I don’t want them to approve a debit when I don’t have enough to cover it in my account. This is a complete fraud.”
The Federal Reserve, which sets some banking rules, has been weighing new regulations for overdrafts for more than a year. They’re giving consumers the ability to comment until the end of March, with the anticipation that they’ll come out with final rules by this summer.
The rules are necessary, experts contend, because most banks now automatically enroll checking account customers in overdraft plans — and some banks won’t let them out. Bank of America, for example, doesn’t give consumers the option of dropping overdraft protection, a company spokeswoman says. If you have a checking account with the bank, you have it. Period.
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