July 29 (Bloomberg) -- Tracy Hickman’s dinner for three at Taco Bell cost $11.99. She ended up paying $300 for overdraft charges triggered by the meal and other debit purchases.
Never content to stop while they are of capitation, the banksters are still gorging on the blood of American families. This time and still, it's bank fees.
Charges related to overdrawn U.S. accounts may rise to $38.5 billion this year from $36.7 billion in 2008, according to data compiled by research firm Moebs Services Inc. in Lake Bluff, Illinois. Bank of America Corp. in Charlotte, North Carolina, the largest U.S. bank, charges customers $35 ...
The banks are charging tens of thousands of percent in interest. According to Moebs they "have to" charge these fees to stay above water. Nearly 1000 banks would be unprofitable if they didn't. Boo fucking hoo. Let them drown.
Apparently the banks are still rearranging deposits in order to maximize rapacious fees from single moms, retirees and whoever they can bleed out these days.
The Federal Reserve doesn’t require banks’ overdraft programs to comply with the Truth in Lending Act even though they are essentially short term loans with what could only be called usurious rates. And the Fed wants to be the super regulator and bitches and moans about a commission taking away their power to regulate products like this. Boo fucking hoo.
The banks say the consumers should always know what's in their accounts. Yes that's true. They should. They should also be alerted if they are overdrawn. They shouldn't be able to use their Debit card if there are charges pending that the bank is aware of that will overdraw their account. The banks also cover the largest charge first, so as to drain the account and reap fees when the smaller withdrawals go through after.
They say its to pay out the more important bills. Bullshit. First, how would they know what that check is for? Are they really providing unsolicited financial direction? Is that what the fees are for? I don't think so. In my experience, they have let all the charges go through so they can charge those overdraft fees, important or not. They'll still reject the checks and charge you for those, too.
The banks started covering charges when they realized there was a goldmine to had in the fees and they also figured out that customers had little choice.
"Banks cannot impose or increase fees on one product to offset losses on another product, because a competitor will come along and steal dissatisfied customers," Feddis, senior federal counsel for the American Bankers Association said.
That's a bit of horseshit. I've tried switching banks recently to no avail. The first time they rejected me was because of a 1 cent transfer I left in limbo when I was considering moving banks a couple years ago. I thought ok, I'll clear this up and give it another shot. Rejected, because of too many peeks at my credit report by this bank and a couple others I applied to after I got rejected the first time. That's for just a penny and some credit checks. Imagine a single mom with a few late payments on her record.
The proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency would be responsible for regulating overdraft fees when it becomes law.
Representatives Caroly Maloney(NY) and Kendrick Meek(FL)have each introduced legislation combatting these practices.
HR 1456 (Maloney- NY)- to require customer consent before a depository institution may initiate overdraft protection services and fees, to enhance the information made available to consumers relating to overdraft protection services and fees, to prohibit systematic manipulation in the posting of checks and other debits to a depository account for the purpose of generating overdraft protection fees, and for other purposes.
HR-1487 Meek, D-FL- To amend the Electronic Fund Transfer Act to require notice to the consumer before any fee may be imposed by a financial institution in connection with any transaction for any overdraft protection service provided with respect to such transaction, and for other purposes.
HR-1488 Meek FL- To establish a fair order of posting checks and deposits to prevent unjust enrichment of financial institutions from fees that accrue only by virtue of the order used by the institution for posting checks and deposits, and for other purposes.