jeudi 12 décembre 2013

Overdraft Charge Settled By Bank Of America For 0 Million

By Cornelius Nunev


Overdraft fees were the focus of a mas-sive class action suit involving Bank of America, which the bank just recently came to a settlement agreement in.

To settle the suit, Bank of America has agreed to pay $410 million. Bank of America and more than two dozen other banks are named in a gigantic class action involving more than 1 million people suing various banks over extreme overdraft fee policies. Don't worry; you'll still be able to get your installment loans from these banks.

Lawsuits become more common after fees go up

Consumers have been really upset about the overdraft fees and account fees at major financial institutions in both Canada and the U.S. This has brought on some class action lawsuits to be filed. Bloomberg reports that there have been suits against Citigroup, Wells Fargo and Chase bank. There is one giant class ac-tion suit against Bank of America with almost a million individuals involved. A $410 million settlement was approved for Bank of America. Reuters explained that over 2 dozen banks in the U.S. Europe and Canada are be-ing sued for fees like these, all of which were changed to be class action suits. In Re: Checking Account Overdraft Litigation is the name of the case.

Problem with additional overdraft fees

Bank of America is alleged to have processed transactions from largest to smallest instead of by when the transactions were made, thus making it more probable that accounts would fall into overdraft and the sum recovered by the banks would be greater. Short term credit and overdraft fees are effortlessly compared. The bank will les the trans-action be made as a "loan" to the customer and then charge a fee for it. Normal fees are between $25 and $35. Many consumer advocates consider overdraft protections and fees to be abusive to less fortunate consumers. Banks can no longer enroll consumers into an overdraft protection program automatically; custom-ers have to elect to enroll.

Bank of America going mobile

Bank of America is unveiling a pilot program involving mobile banking, according to the LA Times. After a transaction has been declined, the customer will get a text. This text will ask if the consumer wants to get an overdraft fee on the transaction and allow it to go through. If the consumer elects to do so, the consumer can deposit the required funds by 8 p.m. that evening to avoid the overdraft charge of $35. Only that transaction would have the choice. The New York Times states that when the CFPB begins operations, overdraft fees will become important to review. The CFPB is involved in an ongoing Congressional tug-of-war over the director posi-tion and what powers the bureau should have.




About the Author:



Aucun commentaire:

Enregistrer un commentaire