“The OTS {Office of Thrift Supervision} and Fed proposal show that these agencies recognize that abusive overdraft loans are a significant problem,” said Eric Halperin, DC director of the Center for Responsible Lending. “However, they would continue to allow banks to enroll customers, who never signed up for it, into the most expensive credit program the bank offers.”

They also urged the agencies to consider banning overdraft fees caused by check holds resulting from a bank’s policy to delay the availability of deposited funds. “These rules should also recognize that it is an unfair practice for a bank to charge an overdraft fee or a bounced check fee for a problem caused by the bank’s decision to place a hold on the consumer’s check deposit,” said Gail Hillebrand, financial services campaign manager of Consumers Union.

The Payday Pundit has been making the point over and over again the payday lending customers are frequently trying to avoid bounced check fees and overdraft protection costs.