Overdraft, NSFs, and Fees: Oh, My!

It is no longer enough to disclose that your bank will impose a fee for an overdraft created by “check, in-person withdrawal, ATM withdrawal or other electronic means.” When you describe an overdraft service, details and explanations are important, and omitting one of those details can expose the bank to litigation and regulatory criticism. Even when you get all that right, some of your practices may be challenged as “unfair, deceptive, or abusive” by regulators or in the courts.

How does your bank describe its overdraft program to consumers? What account balance do you use to authorize ATM withdrawals and debit card purchases? Do you use the same balance to decide when an item has overdrawn an account to trigger an overdraft fee? Is that balance reduced by known pending “must pay” items? Do you explain to customers what those “must pay” items are? What about fees for returning a check unpaid, or returning that same payment twice or even three times? Does your bank even KNOW when it gets a repeat presentment?

In this special 90-minute presentation, we will review all the recent developments related to overdrafts and overdraft fees, including two of the CFPB’s most recent targets – a fee imposed on a depositor when a bank charges back to their account a check returned by the drawee bank, and overdraft fees in general when imposed by the biggest banks and credit unions (for now). We’ll review the issues and the reasoning behind regulatory concerns for what were – until the last few years – acceptable practices and discuss actions banks can take to address those concerns and avoid regulatory criticism or customer lawsuits.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND:

Compliance officers, operations management, customer contact personnel

*This program does NOT qualify, nor meet the National Standard for NASBA accreditation.