Banks are a bunch of crooks

[Roon]

I use a Visa debit card. If I make a purchase that is a penny more than my available balance, they will give me that penny and charge me $30.00 overdraft fee.It should just deny my card when it's swiped. But I guess banks make most of their money on overdraft fees and wouldn't have it any other way! crooks.

[ronnykmarshall]

1. Call your branch and ask them to reverse it

99% of the time they will.

[MistressOverdone]

2. I read that fees gives banks 1/3 of their revenue now.

BASTARDS!

[Omphaloskepsis]

3. Talk to them.. You can opt out of overdraft protection.

I had a lengthy talk with my CU about this. Some places still fuck you but it should help.

[Roon]

4. Thanks for the advice everybody

I was too chicken to call the bank because bouncing a Visa debit card made me feel lowly. I will give them a buzz tomorrow.

[Connonym]

6. Don't feel lowly

Everyone makes mistakes. That's a revolting money-making scheme on their part. Banks are just loan sharks but with better suits.

[Roon]

7. Thanks conn eom

[LynneSin]

9. There is madness behind why they do this (other than money - which is one reason)

There is a remote possibility of an extreme emergency that someone might need to use their card which would be above the balance available - car breakdowns, missed airplane, other real emergencies I'm sure we can come up with. The service that the banks are providing that in a pinch they'll stretch the limits and this can be a good thing. And here's the thing, if you had to use this service in an emergency you can probably still call the card company and have the fee reversed provided you do not have a history of going over balance.

But what if I'm just someone who maxes out her balance all the time and takes advantage of the fact that I can go 'over the limit'. Then it's the bank that's losing out on the money and hench the $30 charge for going over the balance. It's a very very useful service that they do not want people abusing.

If you do not have a history of overspending your balance, your card company will refund the fee and you can request this service be removed. But that means if you're in a pinch and need that extra cash it won't be available.

It honestly has some good features but people need to be aware of their balance

[S n o w b a l l]

5. I recently had an overdraft....

I forgot to deduct an automatic withdrawal from my account and they charged me $66!!

In the 5 yrs I've had the account, I'd never had an overdraft so I wrote them from my online account and complained and they reversed the charge.

Hope you get the same results!

[LynneSin]

8. You need to call your bank and tell them under no circumstances should they go over your balance

I found that one out when I purchased a computer, returned it purchased another that was returned. By the 3rd computer (which was all within a 24 period) I had gone way over my max and didn't realize it took about 2-3 days for my account to be credited with the returns.

I was pissed, I should have been rejected on the 2nd computer. So when I found out about this I thru a little hissy fit and my card was changed so that I cannot spend over my limit/balance. They also refunded the fee they charged me.

The banks justification is that in a pinch you might find it necessary to go over your balance and the fee is to keep you from doing it all the time. I suppose if you were in an emergency situation it's not a bad thing to have. But if you ask the card company to get rid of the feature they will.

[SteppingRazor]

10. Couple things.

First, the obvious one, and the one you least want to hear — don't go over. When you go a penny over, it's not your penny the bank is giving you. It's someone else's penny. The fact that the bank is charging you $30 for the privilege makes sense from their perspective — they'll charge you as much as they can.

Second, what you can do about it — There's a couple things. If you're not good with keeping track of how much you've got in the bank, then a lot of banks will allow you to set up a savings account that will automatically be used if you go over the amount in your checking. Do this! Open a savings account and just drop $100 or so in there. It'll more than pay for itself in prevented overdraft fees alone, not to mention the few cents you'll make in interest.

Alternatively, you can have the bank stop any payment that would overdraft your account. Of course, this can be a real pain in the butt when you suddenly find yourself with unexpected expenses.


Anyway, I know it sucks, but you gotta remember, at the end of the day, it's incumbent on you to make sure that you don't overdraft. If you do, it's your fault, and the bank will make you pay.

[Deep13]

11. They really, really are.

Legalized robbery. Why do we even need them except that they have made the rules so they are indispensable. Financial industry? INDUSTRY? Don't industries do things. Banks suck up other people's money and then loan out other peoples money for outrageous fees. The only reason anyone needs such loans is because the bank has hoarded all the money in the first place.