Bank Debit Card Fees ...Fair? Legal?

[kl2233]

Tennessee

I banked at First Tennessee in Knoxville. I had a checking acct. with a check card. It was a new account and I didn't know what day the monthly services charges were charged to my account. Well, I did not account for these fees, and then three days later I overdrafted a check card transaction by roughly $2.00.

Well, they sent a notice to me in the mail, and for some reason, whether it be due to processing or whatever, the notice never arrived at my home for eight days.

In the meantime, the bank was charging me $30.00 for every single day that the one transaction was overdrafted. I paid the overdraft, and basically a five dollar transaction ended up costing me $245.00 plus the $25.00 I had to pay to the business for the NSF transaction.

My question is this: I know that overdraft charges can be a little steep, but this seems outrageous. Is this legal? It certainly doesn't seem fair or just. I was outraged, even though I should have read my terms more carefully. But, I just never heard of something like this, and I was caught totally off guard.

There explanation was: If it was a check they couldn't add the fee every day, but since it was a check card they could basically do it continually.

I would also like advise, on where to find help for this, if no one is certain about the legality of this matter.

Thank You

 

[Ladynred]

I know that overdraft charges can be a little steep, but this seems outrageous.

$30 is nothing. BofA now charges $45 !! I'd say that's incentive enough to be sure you do NOT overdraft your account.

Is this legal?

Of course it is. It sucks, but it's legal.

If it was a check they couldn't add the fee every day, but since it was a check card they could basically do it continually.

Yes, I'm not sure I understand the why of that, but they get away with it. All the more reason to either switch banks or sign up for overdraft protection to a linked savings account.

It's legal. The limits, if any, on what they can charge it's in your state laws and the Federal rules.

 

[Who's Liable?]

Tennessee

I banked at First Tennessee in Knoxville. I had a checking acct. with a check card. It was a new account and I didn't know what day the monthly services charges were charged to my account. Well, I did not account for these fees, and then three days later I overdrafted a check card transaction by roughly $2.00.

Well, they sent a notice to me in the mail, and for some reason, whether it be due to processing or whatever, the notice never arrived at my home for eight days.

In the meantime, the bank was charging me $30.00 for every single day that the one transaction was overdrafted. I paid the overdraft, and basically a five dollar transaction ended up costing me $245.00 plus the $25.00 I had to pay to the business for the NSF transaction.

My question is this: I know that overdraft charges can be a little steep, but this seems outrageous. Is this legal? It certainly doesn't seem fair or just. I was outraged, even though I should have read my terms more carefully. But, I just never heard of something like this, and I was caught totally off guard.

There explanation was: If it was a check they couldn't add the fee every day, but since it was a check card they could basically do it continually.

I would also like advise, on where to find help for this, if no one is certain about the legality of this matter.

Thank You

It is completely legal... If you did not like the fees, you should not have signed up for the account... And yes, you did acknowledge the fees when you signed up for the account. It is NOT the banks fault you did not read all the fine print...