Community | August 09, 2009 | 15 comments

Banks make $38 BILLION from overdraft fees

source: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/43d18c68-851d-11de-9a64-00144feabdc0.html

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WakeUpPeople
US banks stand to collect a record $38.5bn in fees for customer overdrafts this year, with the bulk of the revenue coming from the most financially stretched consumers amid the deepest recession since the 1930s, according to research. The fees are nearly double those reported in 2000.

The finding is likely to increase public hostility towards the financial sector, which has been under political pressure to ease the burden on consumers by increasing credit availability and lending more fairly after being bailed out by taxpayers.

The Federal Reserve is working on rules on overdraft fees, and rules on customer charges could be a priority of the Obama administration’s proposed Consumer Protection Agency if approved by Congress.

Data from Moebs Services, a research company, show that the crisis has prompted many banks to lift charges on overdrafts and credit cards in order to boost profits.

The median bank overdraft fee has this year rose from $25 to $26, according to Moebs, the first time it has gone up in a recession for more than 40 years.

“Banks are returning to a fee-driven model and overdraft fees are the mother lode,” said Mike Moebs, the company’s founder.

Overdraft fees accounted for more than three-quarters of service fees charged on customer deposits, he said.
  1. groups:
    Community,   Greatest Depression,   News_Featured,   Economy,   2 more
  2. tags:
    News,  US News,  overdraft fees,  bank fees
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15 comments // Banks make $38 BILLION from overdraft fees

  • SHAWN_RITTIMAN
  • artemis6
    • 0
      artemis6  

    • They are evil . They change the due dates , and fees , and interest rates . We should all go back to using cash as much as possible .

    • 2 years ago
  • HowdyDo
  • AndrewH13
    • 0
      AndrewH13  

    • I currently owe a certain bank whose name rhymes with "shmamovia" about 250 dollars in overdraft fees.

      And yet they're going bankrupt.

      Question mark?

    • 2 years ago
  • boiscalm
    • 0
      boiscalm  

    • I was hit for $140.00 last year when I needed it most. My wife was out of work and we were just getting by. (4x35)
      They also put the largest amound first so that the other
      drafts that day would OD. That is what is so sad about this. They are doing this on purpose, and harming the poorest or struggling middle class the most.

    • 2 years ago
  • munzik
  • SHAWN_RITTIMAN
  • artemis6
  • heimbachae
    • 0
      heimbachae  

    • You know what I think!!! (JUST THEN the gestapo broke into my apartment and stole away all my electronics I hadn't paid for all while yelling THANKS DAN!!!)

    • 2 years ago
  • thestick
    • 0
      thestick  

    • you even get charged to check your balance some places. You can't even see your money for free. we are all enslaved by the monitary system. there is no other way around it. Bow to your masters. We give them billions in taxes so that they can steal our money through small print scemes like fee and excess charges. We need a free money system like our American founders intended. Its a slap in the face to see Andrew jackson on a $20 bill. He ousted the Central bankers for us, only to stabbed in his dead back by Woodrow Wilson. Fuck the Federal Reserve for allowing these practices and the US Govt for allowing the Fed. to run this country

    • 2 years ago
  • HowdyDo
    • 0
      HowdyDo  

    • I was getting fleeced by this - not so good at balancing the check book, I guess, and I think some banks can fudge the timing of when credits/debits post to get more fees out of you, so I pay all my bills with money orders from the grocery store, now. I keep the account, just in case, but I'm not paying those fees anymore - forget it!!

      BOYCOTT THE BANKS!!!

    • 2 years ago
  • isnamthere
    • 0
      isnamthere  

    • Why aren't these angry teabaggers protesting the banks that are ripping off each and every american? Oh yeah, they'd get tazered and arrested by their corporate masters for exercising their freedom of speech. it's easier to go to public townhall meetings and disrupt democracy and keep information from getting out to the public. They are americans? I think not.

    • 2 years ago
  • rwholmon
  • jh64487
  • kennymotown
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