The end is approaching for the surprise $37 cup of coffee or $40 hoagie - the ones for which $2 went to Starbucks or $5 to Wawa and $35 went to your bank for busting through your balance.
Starting Thursday, new federal rules say, a bank can charge new customers an overdraft fee for debit card purchases or ATM withdrawals only if it obtained permission beforehand to cover the shortfall.
Similar rules will take effect Aug. 15 for existing bank customers - a deadline that has caused a frenzy of activity at banks eager to keep their share of a revenue stream that advocates say is worth more than $11 billion a year.
At least a few, including Citibank and Bank of America, have chosen to opt out themselves. Both say they will no longer routinely allow customers to spend money beyond their balances in exchange for fees that elsewhere can exceed $100 or $200 a day if a customer makes multiple overdrafts.
“This is really a result of listening to our customers, the vast majority of whom have said they don’t want to spend money that is not in their account,” T.J. Crawford, a Bank of America spokesman, said Wednesday.
Bank of America announced its decision in March, saying it would help customers “control their finances by reducing the possibility of overextending themselves at the point of sale.”
But according to a Consumer Federation of America survey, 13 of the nation’s 15 largest banks - including Philadelphia market leaders Citizens Bank, Wachovia, and TD Bank - …
Read the original article at Philly
Related Posts
Tags: account, ATM, Banks, Business, Car, consumer, fees, finance, money
