“I kept overdrafting my account even though I opted out”
Is this some SovCit shit where they think “opting out” of the terms of service for their bank account is an option?
No, there’s a US law now where they have to allow you to opt out of overdraft “protection”. They just decline the transaction but don’t charge you any fees.
If only they didn’t charge fees. My bank charges an insufficient funds fee that’s conveniently the same amount as the overdraft protection fee. So my options are eat the fee and get my stuff, or eat the fee and not get my stuff.
I’m not entirely sure this is legal, but I was told directly by a representative that these were my options. It’s quite literally a poor tax.
I use a credit union and they don’t penalize for either one. There’s a small “get gud with money” fee for the transfer if you use overdraft protection, something like $1.50 or whatever, but I don’t think there’s an insufficient funds fee at all. They just decline the transaction. I mean it’s not like it actually costs them anything to compare the incoming charge to your account balance, so a fee for not being on the ball is silly.
So your options might actually be “eat the fee, or switch banking institutions”, but they won’t tell you that, ofc.
Since I opted out of overdraft protection several years ago with my credit union, I’ve never been charged insufficient fund fee. Sounds like banks are doing shady/shity things to their consumers again. When will people learn to leave banks and go to a credit union that cares about their people before profits?
what do you mean? If I try to pay with an empty bank account the transaction is simply denied.
Nothing sovcit about not wanting the bank to give you what’s essentially a small expensive loan.
In fact, overdraft protection is typically opt-in, so just don’t sign up for it and you’re golden.
The only overdraft I use is self-funded overdraft where it pulls from savings instead of a tiny bank loan. I have it send me a notification when that happens so I can tell when my cash flow is wonky.
They mean opting out of overdraft protection. Banks typically allow you overdraft protection, where instead of denying your sale at point of sale, they’ll pay it, charge you a fee, and let the transaction go through.
If you opt out of overdraft protection, it should instead deny the sale, and you don’t get to buy whatever. At my bank, they do this and then charge an insufficient funds fee, which is the same as the overdraft fee. It’s bullshit.
Some banks allow you to choose- If you overdraft, do you want us to pay the vendor, and then hit you with a overdraft fee? Or do you want us to reject the charge?
