Three Democratic lawmakers want the Federal Reserve to curb charges that banks levy on customers when they make a purchase with a debit card and overdraw an account. The fees can mount up quickly and cost consumers more than their actual purchases.

The practice is known as “overdraft protection,” and consumers often don’t even know that they have the unasked-for convenience until the charges appear on their accounts.

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), along with Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.), sent a letter to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke asking the Fed to strengthen planned regulation of overdrafts.

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Michael Flores, CEO of Bretton Woods, a consulting firm that works for both payday lenders and banks, estimates that overdraft fees brough in $34.7 billion in revenue for banks and credit unions in 2008, compared with $7.3 billion for payday lenders.

Payday loans are often vilified for their high costs, and they’re illegal in 15 states. The annualized percentage rate (APR) of interest on a typical payday loan is 400 percent or more, according to the Consumer Federation of America. But that’s nothing compared with the overdrafts the lawmakers are targeting.