How to Get Overdraft Fees Taken Off
How to Get Overdraft Fees Taken Off
How to Get Overdraft Fees Taken Off
We've all done it at least once - opened up our online banking portal on the Web and spotted an overdraft fee on our statement. Whether it's $20, $30 or more, an overdraft fee showing up on the online statement is never a welcome sight.
An overdraft is charged anytime you make transactions against your account in an amount that exceeds your current balance. Obviously, in order to pay the merchant or individual to whom you authorized the payment via your debit card, credit card, or personal check, your bank needs to be able to withdraw those funds from your account. When the funds aren't there, they are not happy.
If you are enrolled in an overdraft protection program - and chances are good that you are - your bank will pay on your behalf the merchant or individual to whom the payment was authorized. This is a bit like their giving you an automatic, short-term loan. Of course, their loan fee - the overdraft fee - is quite high. Most large national banks now charge $30 or more for the privilege of their covering your overdraft for a few days.
Having to pay up to one overdraft fee per month might be bearable, but it is quite possible to incur multiple overdraft charges in a single day. That is because banks actually go to the trouble of stacking your transactions. Essentially, this means that they purposefully process the larger transactions before getting to the smaller ones. This decidedly sneaky practice increases the bank's chances of collecting more overdraft fees from you, since they effectively use the larger transaction amount to break your account into the red (negative balance) and then allow the other, smaller transactions to be processed along the way.
Don't blame the bankers: if you were a big banker, you would try to do the same thing. That's because about 75% of U.S. banks' account service-related fees annually come from the charging of overdraft fees. Overdraft fees are just under a $30 billion business for banks in the United States. Why would you expect them to walk away from all of that cash?
If you have incurred overdraft fees within the past 30 days or so, here are some tips for how to get overdraft fees taken off:
1. Know your facts. You need to start by digging into the numbers a bit. In order to build a case that you can present to your bank, you will need to be able to show them exactly what happened. The most important data to gather from your online or paper statement are: transaction amount and date of the charge(s) that caused the overdraft, as well as any charges that happened at around the same time.
2. Arrange your facts into a story. Make sure you are able to articulately explain to your bank exactly what happened. Make it into a story, inserting the facts where needed.
3. It's time to call and explain your situation. Make sure to be polite to the customer service person. Remember, unless there was a blatant error on the their part, the customer service person with whom you speak likely believes you deserve to pay the overdraft fee. You need to present a calm, clear and fact-based case as to why you shouldn't have to do so. Remain friendly but firm during the entire call - losing your temper, whining or being belligerent will get you nowhere fast. Instead, calmly ask for a refund on the overdraft.
4. If that doesn't work, pay an in-person visit to your local branch or write a letter to the customer service address listed on their web site. Present the same argument you did on the phone. This takes more time, though, so go with step #3 first.
Note that you would not have to pay overdraft fees ever again if you switched your checking account to a bank that allows overdrafts without charging a fee. Imagine how good that would feel!
For now, get your facts together and build a case as to why you should be your overdraft fee refunded to you. In the meantime, consider taking the steps now to switch to a bank that does not charge overdraft fees so that you can avoid this expense and hassle in the future.
http://www.articlesbase.com/banking-articles/how-to-get-overdraft-fees-taken-off-2797549.html
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