Lawsuit Over Overdraft Fees Settled By Bank Of America For 0 Million

By Cornelius Nunev


Bank of America has reached a settlement in a huge lawsuit that consists of most large retail banks in the United States.

B of A has agreed to a payout of $410 million to make the suit disappear. Bank of America and more than two dozen other banks are named in a gigantic class action involving more than 1 million individuals suing various banks over extreme overdraft fee policies. Don't worry; you will still be able to get your installment loans from these banks.

Cases become more common after fees go up

Some of the largest U.S. and Canadian financial institutions are the target of massive class action lawsuits due to the account fees and overdraft fees that have made customers an-gry. Bank of America has one class action suit with about 1 million people in it along with other banks with comparable suits such as Chase bank, Citigroup and Wells Fargo, states Bloomberg. Bank of America is able to settle now. A $410 million settlement has already been approved. More than two dozen banks from the U.S. Canada and Europe are being sued for overdraft fees, according to Reuters, and the cases were all consolidated into one massive class ac-tion. In Re: Checking Account Overdraft Litigation is the name of the case.

Customers don't realize the problem

Bank of America is alleged to have processed transactions from largest to smallest rather than 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 easily 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. Some customer supports don't like overdraft fees since they think it is cruel to customers that cannot afford them. Banks cannot automatically put consumers in overdraft programs anymore. Consumers have to pick that choice.

Bank of America program to start

The Los Angeles Times reports there is a pilot program at Bank of America starting. After a transaction has been declined, the customer will get a text. This text will ask if the customer wants to get an overdraft fee on the transaction and allow it to go through. The consumer can then keep away from the $35 overdraft charge if they are able to deposit the funds before 8 p.m. that even-ing. This is only allowed with the one transaction. It is very limited. The New York Times states that when the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau begins operations, overdraft fees will become significant to review. It is possible that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will not be starting soon though. This is because Congress has been arguing about the bureau's powers and who should direct it.




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