Say Goodbye To Debit Card Overdraft Fees From Bank Of America
Bank of America customers will soon be unable to spend more than they have in the accounts linked to their debit cards. It’s a step that may become a common move ahead of new regulations limiting overdraft fees. Rules set by the Federal Reserve that will ban banks from charging such fees, without first getting permission from the customer, are set to take effect July 1. But Bank of America is going a step further than the regulations require. It will simply no longer allow debit card purchases to go through if there isn’t enough money in the account.
For ATM transactions, customers who try to withdraw more than their balance will have to agree to pay a $35 overdraft fee before they can get the money.
“The majority of our customers who overdraw their account do so with everyday debit purchases,” said Susan Faulkner, senior vice president of consumer banking for Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America. “They’re doing this unknowingly, because they aren’t aware that they are about to overdraft.”
Since the bank doesn’t have the ability to notify the customer when they’re at the register and give them the chance to agree to a fee, it will simply reject such transactions.
Consumers have demonstrated a willingness to pay overdrafts for covering the mortgage and the car payment, said Greg McBride, who follows the banking industry for Bankrate.com. “But not if it’s things like covering a latte and a scone.”
The bank’s new policy will kick in on June 19 for new accounts, and in early August for existing accounts. It will replace the bank’s current terms, which allow overdrafts to go through but only charge a fee if the deficit is greater than $10.
Bank of America likely won’t be the last to make the change. That’s because while the new rules will save consumers from surprising dings on their accounts, they will also cut deeply into the more than $1.77 billion annual revenue overdraft fees generate for the banking industry.
Faulkner would not estimate how much such fees pulled in for Bank of America in the past. Read full article in APP
There are 6 Comments to "Say Goodbye To Debit Card Overdraft Fees From Bank Of America"
Bank of America has fee for this & this & this…
is the worst bank. By Far.
Good move. Years ago I lost thousands of dollars because of the overdraft fees at B. of A.
To #2 – Sean – Perhaps you should have paid more attention when you were in math class.
good bye boa I’m switching to td bank
to #3 it goes much deeper than that i’m afraid it ain’t so simple as arithmetic.
B.A took $35 for $-2.30 !!!