Best agency to notify of bank fraud?

Factual Questions
1

I have finally discovered how my bank has been claiming overdraft fees when I have sufficient money deposited. I intend to notify them of my displeasure, of course, seeking a refund (ha!) of the improperly charged fees. However, I wish to send a copy of my complaint to the appropriate Federal agency, and I don’t want that to go into some pigeonhole if I guess the wrong agency.

So, whom should I copy?

The scam works like this:

We all know that banks do not recognize incoming float (a fact enshrined in law when they approved Check21 to ding us for outgoing float). However, once they finally admit that they have our money, they are supposed to notify us of that fact.

My bank has several avenues to discover that information. When one makes an ATM transaction, goes to the on-line banking site, or phones the toll-free number for balances, the bank provides two numbers, an “account balance” and an “available funds” balance. The “availiable funds” indicate a lower number where the “account balance” has subtracted from it any incoming floated checks that have not cleared or any POS electronic transactions that have not had the vendors’ paperwork catch up to verify the sale.

Fair enough, as far as it goes.

However, on several instances, I have either phoned or gone on-line to see my balance a day or more after depositing a check and found my “account balance” equal to my “available balance,” performed a transaction, and then been hit with an NSF charge on the grounds that I was writing checks against the float.

When I complained that I was not charging against the float, the bank assured me that I had simply been mistaken and that I should be more careful in the future, (and would I like to pay them for overdraught protection?).

This morning, however, I went on-line to review a recent deposit and found all in apparent order. Being more than a bit suspicous after previous events, I began clicking on various hyper-links, one of which finally popped up a window that noted that they were not yet honoring the entire value of the deposited check–despite their display on the account window saying it had cleared.

I then phoned the 800 line to check my balance and was again told that my available balance equalled my account balance, so they are using two separate sources of information to tell me my money is OK, while they have a separate register out there which they intend to use to discredit my withdrawal actions.

I would not be surprised to discover that this is a programming error rahter than deliberate fraud (Ever notice how they only seem to catch errors in the customer favor and not when they win by it?) However, it still needs tobe corrected.

2

This might be too obvious, but wouldn’t it just be the FDIC? Here’s a link to their Consumer Protection page.

3

First of all, determine who is the governing body of the bank. Used to be, it was part of the bank name (“National” of “N.A.” meant Federal control, “State” meant state control). That seems not to be the rule, though I think the type of control has to be somewhere – perhaps under the corporate name (e.g., “Friendly Bank” may be owned by “Friendly Bancorp, N.A.,” indicating Federal control). I’m seeing, for instance that on the Citibank page, they’re listed in the fine print as “Citibank FSB” – the FSB meaning Federal.

You can also ask your state banking department. If the bank isn’t under their control, they can tell you to to ask.

4

Try the Ohio Department of Commerce. The link is to the consumer complaint page.

5

I thought FSB indicated “Full Service Banker.” :confused:

Anyway, I think the Federal agency you want is not the FDIC (which only insures the money that’s in the bank), but the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. This office regulates national banks. See the bottom of this page for a complaint form. The advice to check with the state regulators is also a very good idea.

6

If you rob a bank everyone knows that it is the FBI that jumps right in. When the bank robs you nobody knows exactly who to call. :smack:

7

Just for starters, I would call your local Better Business Bureau, then see what they instruct you to do. It may very well be something you would need to notify the FDIC or FBI about.
I hope you get this resolved. FTR there was a bank not too long ago that was hit with a class action lawsuit for similiar fraud.
I hope you get this resolved.

8

And further FTR, the fees themselves are generally greatly inflated, much more than the $1 or $2 it costs the bank to charge for the overdrafts. I remember editing stories about overdraft fees as a source of income for banks when I was managing editor of a banking publication. Even when they stay within the letter of the law, they’re ripping you off big time.

9

You can also check your Government Blue Pages for a state listing of something along the line of “Banking & Insurance.”

10

One function of the Federal Reserve is to oversee and regulate the US banking system.
From the Fed webpage:

So if the bank is a member of the Federal Reserve system, as the majority of banks (I believe) are, contact the OCC; for other banks, contact the FDIC.

11

Tread reverently, my friend, for herein lies the one true answer:

It depends.

For a bank with a national charter, contact the OCC. For a bank with a state charter, contact your state banking commission.

While the FDIC is the agency that audits state chartered banks, the state banking commission is the one that grants their authority to conduct business in that state. They are far more likely to be helpful with problems in their own backyard than the FDIC.

I may be being whooshed, but it stands for Federal Savings Bank. Before the S&L debacle in the 80’s S&L’s were different animals than banks, now so much now.

12

Try calling the bank and asking to speak to their Compliance Officer. You’ll typically wind up talking to someone with a lot more authority and clue than whoever answers the phone when you initially call.
Outline your problems. I would be surprised if the Compliance Officer doesn’t either explain the apparent discrepancy OR discover the error and begin working to fix it.
The Compliance Officer is the bank employee who LEAST wants you going to the authorities, and who would MOST like you to believe the bank is behaving in a lawful fashion.
You may have to play phone tag to get him or her though. I spend all day calling bank VPs and security officers, and some people are busier than others.