Law-Forums.org

[raleah]

My bank has a practice of assessing an overdraft fee on the speculation that my account may overdraw. I.e. there are PENDING transactions that will take a few days to clear, but if they went through that day they would overdraw my account,i.e. a late Thursday night CREDIT purchase via my debit card. However, before the transactions clear I get my usual Friday paycheck and on Monday the credit purchases post to my account, so they assess me a $36 overdraft fee based on Thursday's speculation that I will overdraw on my account.

Is this legal, and if not should I consider starting a lawsuit - a potential class action lawsuit?

[dubh35]

Yes it is legal
The charges are already trying to be debited from your account. Pending just means they are in the process of taking the money out. If you do not have enough money in their on the day the debits hit your account, you will be charged an overdraft fee

[yehudi]

The days of kiting are over. Do you remember when you could write a check on Wednesday, knowing that you could cover the check with a deposit on Friday?

I had many instances where I made a purchase by check and the money was debited from my account before I got home. You need to have money in your account when you write the check to avoid the risk of $36 charge.

By the way, in banking terms, pending doesn't mean "We see you wrote a check, but we have not gotten around to process it yet". Pending means that the transaction is being processed.

[christie42]

I'm sure it's in their fine print. If you do not have money in the account when it is pending they have no guarantee you will make a deposit, how about not spending more than you actually have that will stop the overdrafts, seems like a simple solution.....oh , and if you are getting hit with overdrafts how do you suppose you will hire a lawyer to represent you????

[bean]

My overall advise would be to close that account and go with another bank.

It sounds like you may be the customer of one of those "mega banks". Go to your community bank. There, they will treat you like a real person.

Best Wishes!

[mads]

if you make a purchase on Thursday with your debit card (even after 3 PM when banks close) the Authorization network checks to see if you have AVAILABLE FUNDS at that moment. Since you bank allows you overdrafts, they bank PAYS the item and asses you the fee. It is not in anticipation of your overdraft--you have an ACTUAL overdraft Thursday when you make the purchase. A Friday deposit WILL NOT cover it. You are NOT writing a check, which takes at least one business day to clear. If your bank did not allow overdrafts, your Thursday ATTEMPT to make a card purchase would be DECLINED at the register because you DO NOT have the funds at that time.