The cost to overdraw a bank account could drop to as little as $3 under a proposal announced by the White House, the latest move by the Biden administration to combat fees it says pose an unnecessary burden on American consumers, particularly those living paycheck to paycheck.

The cost to overdraw a bank account could drop to as little as $3 under a proposal announced by the White House, the latest effort by the Biden administration to combat fees it says pose an unnecessary burden on American consumers, particularly those living paycheck to paycheck.

The change could potentially eliminate billions of dollars in fee revenue for the nation’s biggest banks, which were gearing up for a battle even before Wednesday’s announcement. Exactly how much revenue depends on which version of the new regulation is adopted.

Banks charge a customer an overdraft fee if their bank account balance falls below zero. Overdraft started as a courtesy offered to some customers when paper checks used to take days to clear, but proliferated thanks to the growing popularity of debit cards.

  • skuzz
    6·
    11 months ago

    I believe it’s a holdover that originated in the limits of technology in the past. Before the Internet or even dial-up card verification, purchases were made “on faith” if writing a check or paying with a card. The fees were there to prevent banking customers from abusing the pretendness of pretend pretend money. Without the discouragement, a person may go try to buy something at multiple places, and even if a vendor called the bank to verify funds were available, each time the bank would say, “oh yeah, funds are available,” until all the paper came back to the bank.

    That being said, it’s the future, accounts can be verified and mathed upon instantly, and these fees have no place anymore, although I’m sure the banks will try and sell them as, “we’re just trying to help out the poor by allowing them needed money when they might not yet have it available, for a small convenient fee.”

    • Queen HawlSera@lemm.eeEnglish
      2·
      11 months ago

      Especially since the technology of today can mess up in such interesting ways…

      My brother had enough to buy a fancy new laptop he had been saving up for, so he did, but the website goofed and accidentally processed the order TWICE… He canceled the second order and they refunded the money, but he still owed a fuckton in overdraft fees, and since the cancellation wasn’t instaneous and his bank charges him an extra fee ontop of the overdraft fee for every day his account is in the negatives…

      Yeah he was fucked for awhile

      Always use Credit for online purchases kids, the charges are far FAR easier to dispute if there’s a fuck up and it doesn’t overdraft.