March 11th, 2010
Bank of America Corporation is to be eliminating their $35 overdraft fees on debit-card purchases.
Customers will be denied purchases that exceed the amount of money they have in their checking accounts.
The new policy will begin June 19 and in August for existing debit-card holders.
Over draft protection will be still available to customers that opt-in to the service.
If the customer wants to over draw at the ATM machines they will be notified of the Over Draft Fee while at the ATM machine.
This is a victory for consumers where in the past banks automatically opted consumers into Over Draft protection and would automatically accept over draft and bill the consumer. Most times if a consumer knew at the point of sale that they had exceeded their available funds they would of refused the transaction. Yes there are some that would still want the over draft, and these people are now going to be able to opt-in.
By DAN FITZPATRICK And ROBIN SIDEL
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704784904575112430638527738.html?mod=rss_Loans_and_Credit
