As mentioned earlier, the Center for Responsible Lending has come out with a report regarding unjustified bank fees for seniors.

“The new report,” says the Center, “shows that overdrafts triggered by debit card use hit people at or approaching retirement age hard even though they use plastic less than younger debt-card holders. The cost -– $1.65 in fees for every $1 advanced –- reinforces CRL’s previous research, which found that overdraft fees are disproportionate to the amount advanced to cover a purchase: Unauthorized overdrafts cost Americans $17.5 billion in fees for $15.8 billion advanced.”

More remarkable, USA Today has an article which explains that not only do banks charge for overdrafts, they charge multiple times:

“In April, Washington Mutual raised its overdraft fee in most states to $34 from $32. Also this year, the bank increased the number of times a day that a customer can be hit with this fee, from five to seven. Washington Mutual spokesman Gary Kishner says the bank raises fees partly due to ‘competitive factors.’”

“This year, Bank of America raised the fee charged on the first day a customer overdraws to $25 from $20. The bank also raised the number of times a customer can be hit with this fee per day to seven from five. And it’s told customers that most signature debit-card transactions will reduce their balances that same day and be subject to fees if there isn’t enough money in the account. Before, consumers often avoided this fee if they deposited money before a purchase cleared.”

For the full story in USA Today, see: Banks raise penalty fees for customers’ overdrafts.

Here’s an idea: Consider a community bank. Also, get an overdraft protection line for your checking account.

And while you’re at it, complain to your senator or representative. For contact information, press here.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 23rd, 2008 at 5:02 am and is filed under Reverse Mortgage . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.