# Overdraft fees suck **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 7, 2008, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overdraft-fees-suck/471667 "2008-11-07T17:38:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![sugar\_and\_spice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e8c25b/32.png) [@sugar\_and\_spice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sugar_and_spice)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overdraft-fees-suck/471667/21 "2008-11-08T00:40:40Z")
> [@erleichda](#): > > I would like to know where to find the fine print that says this is what I’ll be charged for using a different ATM. I know this will make me sound smug but that is actually one of the few fees I do look up when I open a bank account. I’ve never had to dig through the fine print because in the last 10 years every account I’ve opened has been no other-bank ATM fees (either at all or up to the first N transactions per month) and has advertised this as a benefit of the account. If they didn’t offer this I would have moved on. I’ll admit my accounts have been with Internet banks (this was before _every_ bank had online banking) or with Wamu, the Walmart of banking. I was specifically looking for accounts friendly to the urban wanderer. ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overdraft-fees-suck/471667/22 "2008-11-08T01:05:37Z")
> [@purple\_haze](#): > > The bank’s policy of arranging the debits so that I must pay the maximum possible overdraft charge is very frustrating. I was assessed three overdraft charges of $35 each, adding a $105 debit to our account. This policy may be in the fine print, but that doesn’t make it a good business practice. The bank doesn’t rearrange debits for maximum fuckoverage. They do it on the assumption that you’d want larger debits to be subtracted first, because larger debits are usually for important things like car payments or rent, things that you’d want to go through the most. Putting them first maximizes the chance it will happen. Moreover, the order the debits are processed is moot if you have sufficient funds in the account… yet another reason to keep close eye of your balance. And for day-to-day money management, the order in which transactions will be processed should not be a factor at all. Just as you shouldn’t rely on a bank to process credits to your account in the nick of time to save your checks from bouncing, you shouldn’t rely on them to process debits in ways that are favorable to you. ---
**Author:** ![newcrasher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b3f665/32.png) [@newcrasher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcrasher)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overdraft-fees-suck/471667/23 "2008-11-08T01:26:37Z")
I am a banker for a Big National Bank. I think OD fees suck. I hate them with the fury of 10,000 suns. Let me clear up something, you cannot opt out of OD protection and then just expect the bank to just say not to any ODs you have. Imagine you have $100 in the bank and you buy $55 worth of gas. The gas station (probably) debited your account for $1 to make sure your account was in good standing, because they did not know how much you would be pumping. They would not pass the actual info to the bank until the close of the day or possibly the next day. So now you actually have $45 in the bank but if you check online or at the ATM you will show $99. So woohoo! Let’s go get some drinks (or something) and you spend $50. Then on the way home you stop and get some Altoids and a bottle of water. All of those charges would go through because the bank would think you had the money until the gas station told them differently. Should you manage your money so that you always know how much you have? Yes. But many of these fees are levied against low income people who are playing a necessary but risky game, hoping their paycheck gets deposited before the most recent charges clear. The people I see hit with these most often are single mothers who are doing all they can to keep food on the table and gas in the car to get to work. They are not trying to be irresponsible, they are just doing the best they can. Sometimes they get caught and a charge goes through sooner than they had anticipated (or prayed) and that sets up a smowball that they cannot get out from under. You can easily rack up $300 in fees if this happens. So they get their next paycheck for $500 and if they deposit it in the bank they losr 60% of it right away. So they walk away and hope to open an account somewhere else, but banks have a system now to know who has walked away from other banks with a negatice balance and they deny them the opening. So these people, who are already struggling, get buried under fees. And there is my problem with OD fees. They dispropotionately affect the poor. The average consumer can mishandle his account, get some fees, and it sucks, but they move on. The people of lowest economic means don’t have this option. There are guidelines we have to follow for refunding OD fees. I largely ignore them. I am not about to look at a young mother in my office with a paycheck of $458 tryinf to conver $300 of overdraft fees that happened because a series of bank events was triggered because she spent $2 more than she had. I will probably lose my job for it someday, but I do not care. If I thought someone would pursue a class action lawsuit, I would help them collect the info. ---
**Author:** ![whatami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/85f322/32.png) [@whatami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whatami)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overdraft-fees-suck/471667/24 "2008-11-08T03:23:23Z")
> [@Projammer](#): > > A bit, but maybe not entirely intentionally. It appears you missed part of the point of the OP. > > The bank arranged the order of withdrawals to put the largest first, therefore the account went into OD status immediately so that they pulled 3 OD charges rather than 1 which would have happened if they had ran the charges from smallest to largest. I didn’t miss that part. In fact, I mentioned it in my first post that the information regarding the order in which debits will be applied to the account are clearly disclosed in the information given to you when you open an account, along with the Federally required Fee Schedule. If you can’t be bothered to read it, that’s fine. > [@jackdavinci](#): > > OD fees is not a legitimate profit strategy, sorry. Yes, it’s fine to have an OD fee as either a prohibitive measure against OD, or to compensate the bank for whatever legitimate cost there was to them for the OD. But no it’s not fine to consider OD part of the profit strategy of the bank. Maybe you don’t think it’s a legitimate profit strategy, but every bank I’m aware of disagrees with you. If you look at the financial reporting over the last 10 years, you will see non-interest income increase year over year by a substantial amount as banks came to the realization that, yes, OD Fees, along with other fees, are indeed a legitimate profit strategy. You want to know how I know this? Because I am consistently reviewing our records and I can tell you that many times, the guy who lives paycheck to paycheck and has occasional ODs is very profitable customer > [@newscrasher](#): > > Imagine you have $100 in the bank and you buy $55 worth of gas. The gas station (probably) debited your account for $1 to make sure your account was in good standing, because they did not know how much you would be pumping. They would not pass the actual info to the bank until the close of the day or possibly the next day. > > So now you actually have $45 in the bank but if you check online or at the ATM you will show $99. So woohoo! Let’s go get some drinks (or something) and you spend $50. Then on the way home you stop and get some Altoids and a bottle of water. All of those charges would go through because the bank would think you had the money until the gas station told them differently. But if you had kept track, or, if you had kept a register, you would know that you only had $45. Banks have a lot of regulations that they are required to comply with. Almost all of them are in place in order to protect the consumer. If the consumers don’t bother to read the information banks are required to give them, can we stop printing, distributing and complying with them… because it’s expensive and costs a lot of time to keep up. Maybe then we can stop charging OD fees. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overdraft-fees-suck/471667/25 "2008-11-08T03:23:41Z")
> [@atomicbadgerrace](#): > > And we understand that, we really do. But there’s an onus of personal responsibility here that exceeds any responsibility of the bank. You agreed to these fees. You didn’t have to. You agreed to the way in which they are applied to your account. You didn’t have to. Don’t you think it’s a little predatory to process them in the most expensive way possible for the customer? Maybe the bank shares some responsability in the way it handles transactions? Asswipes just wanted to extort all the money the could from OP like some kind slimy loan shark. ---
**Author:** ![newcrasher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b3f665/32.png) [@newcrasher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcrasher)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overdraft-fees-suck/471667/26 "2008-11-08T03:32:53Z")
> [@whatami](#): > > I didn’t miss that part. In fact, I mentioned it in my first post that the information regarding the order in which debits will be applied to the account are clearly disclosed in the information given to you when you open an account, along with the Federally required Fee Schedule. If you can’t be bothered to read it, that’s fine. > > Maybe you don’t think it’s a legitimate profit strategy, but every bank I’m aware of disagrees with you. If you look at the financial reporting over the last 10 years, you will see non-interest income increase year over year by a substantial amount as banks came to the realization that, yes, OD Fees, along with other fees, are indeed a legitimate profit strategy. > > You want to know how I know this? Because I am consistently reviewing our records and I can tell you that many times, the guy who lives paycheck to paycheck and has occasional ODs is very profitable customer > But if you had kept track, or, if you had kept a register, you would know that you only had $45. > > Banks have a lot of regulations that they are required to comply with. Almost all of them are in place in order to protect the consumer. If the consumers don’t bother to read the information banks are required to give them, can we stop printing, distributing and complying with them… because it’s expensive and costs a lot of time to keep up. Maybe then we can stop charging OD fees. Do you do the rah rah sis boom bah “our company is the greatest” bullshit hawaiian shirt Friday drill too? Our industry does what it does legally. But it is a bloodsucking leach on our society. The most recent debacle proves that they are for profits above any moral obligation to society. And about the disclosures? It is about 18 pages of fine print that nobody reads. But you are right that it is legal. But it is NOT moral. How much do they pay you for your soul? When you are no longer needed they will drop you like a hot rod with a week severance for avery year of service. No reach around, no lube, they will fuck you. Look out for your fellow man, not your corporate master. ---
**Author:** ![newcrasher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b3f665/32.png) [@newcrasher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcrasher)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overdraft-fees-suck/471667/27 "2008-11-08T03:38:14Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Why don’t you go with a real bank that offers overdraft protection? It is free as far as I know. I have $5000 worth of overdraft protection on all relevant accounts. Some people seem to love the small banks but Bank of America can set you up so this never happens again as well as offering kick-ass online banking. I rarely bring any account down to $0 but, even if I do, there is nothing to worry about. You just pay it back like a credit card. If you do it right away, overdraft protection is free. These accounts generally are not available anymore. Old accounts, of course, stay active. This is basically credit. The rate you pay on it is probably way over 12%. In today’s enironment, banks will set you up with a credit card for overdraft protection, if you can qualify. Most low-income people, the folks who are most vulnerable to predatory OD fees, cannot qualify. (see my previous post) ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overdraft-fees-suck/471667/28 "2008-11-08T04:31:56Z")
> [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](#): > > Don’t you think it’s a little predatory to process them in the most expensive way possible for the customer? Maybe the bank shares some responsability in the way it handles transactions? > > Asswipes just wanted to extort all the money the could from OP like some kind slimy loan shark. The bank does not share any responsibility for how a consumer handles his/her own finances. OD fees are not extortion- they are a punishment designed to **hopefully convince you to stop overdrawing your fucking account**. Sure, mistake happen- tellers know this, and will usually refund OD fees for a customer, **once he/she makes sure that the customer isn’t doing this every month**. Yes, we check, and if your story about this “one-time mistake” isn’t borne out by your account history and teller comments, then you are shit out of luck. I don’t write bad checks, even “by accident.” Period. ---
**Author:** ![newcrasher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b3f665/32.png) [@newcrasher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcrasher)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overdraft-fees-suck/471667/29 "2008-11-08T04:36:05Z")
> [@EJsGirl](#): > > OD fees are not extortion- they are a punishment designed to **hopefully convince you to stop overdrawing your fucking account**. > I don’t write bad checks, even “by accident.” Period. Cite regarding the punitive nature if ODs? I work for a bank and the primary reason as far as I know is profit. I am glad you don’t overdraw yor account. I would like your opinion on the comments I made above about low income people. How do yo feel about the fact that the poor pay the most ODs? Does this seem fair to you? ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overdraft-fees-suck/471667/30 "2008-11-08T04:44:11Z")
> [@Lightnin](#): > > Wow, **whatami** , you’re being a total jerk. > > **Purple Haze** ’s OP is complaining that the banks do their level best to take advantage of the mistakes everyone can make. It’s a valid argument- there are many ways to make a mistake that results in an overdraft, and the banks are sitting there like spiders, just waiting for you to make that one little slip, and then they suck you dry. Why? Because they can. I got gouged last month because of a $2300 deposit I had made at a sister institution’s ATM (this was at a federal credit union, after having been assured unambiguously that I could deposit money in one of their affiliate’s ATMs under the same terms as their own). At the time, my CU was automatically clearing $2K of any deposit made at an ATM, which is petty cool I must admit. I knew that there wiould be a hold on the extra $300, but this is normally only a couple of days. It turned out that this time the hold was five days, and guess when four transactions came in? Yes that’s right, on the fourth day. Three were paid, but the fourth was bounced, and it was a personal check. Horrified, as soon as we got the money, we rushed to get a cashier’s check to give to this person, and added an extra $50 with our apologies. Meanwhile, the CU paid the damn original check after all, once again bringing our account into double figures and precipitating six more overdrafts. BTW the $2300 is a deposit we make every month and is noted on the account that it should be released immediately. Although I showed them the stub of the check, they refused to reverse a single one of the overdrafts, about $250 in all, saying that only bank errors can justify such actions. In addition I had to get the cashier’s check back from the person, who fortunately hadn’t cashed it. Before anyone gets all sanctimonious about not spending money we didn’t have, I’d like to ask why the bank gets to hold our deposits for a week? Why do they, in effect, get to spend money they don’t have? To rub our faces in it, we have now been disfavored, and only $100 of an ATM deposit is now released. ---
**Author:** ![cmosdes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@cmosdes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmosdes)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overdraft-fees-suck/471667/31 "2008-11-08T05:42:13Z")
It used to be that fees were to cover an expense a business incurred while trying to help the customer. In the case of overdrafts, someone would need to review the accounts, transfer the money and then reprocess the debits. Today that is _completely_ automated. A fee for that makes no sense, other than as a profit point for banks. At least the fees the airlines charge anymore make some sense. It costs them real money for extra baggage, food, pillows, etc. I used to write software for credit unions and one of the options we had in our software was the ability to pull not just the amount of the OD, but perhaps an extra $50 or $100. In that way, your account didn’t just get back to $0 and therefore end up with another OD on the next debit, but it gave you a bit of breathing room. That may have eliminated the second and third OD the OP experienced. ---
**Author:** ![atomicbadgerrace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@atomicbadgerrace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/atomicbadgerrace)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overdraft-fees-suck/471667/32 "2008-11-08T05:49:05Z")
> [@erleichda](#): > > So what do you have to say about my situation, **atomicbadgerrace**? I recently went out of town for a few days and needed to get some money out of the ATM. My bank has no branch where I was, so , of course, I used another bank’s machine. I knew that there would be a fee for doing so, both from my bank and the bank whose machine I was using. The ATM charged me a fee of $3.00. My bank charged me $16.00!:eek: > I would like to know where to find the fine print that says this is what I’ll be charged for using a different ATM. > Banks are in the business of making money, I agree; I just don’t think the way they go about it is the right way. I’d have to see your fine print to point out to you where it says that’s what you’ll be charged. I’m sure it’s there, though. Both banks I’ve used gave me a page along with the terms that listed all fees associated with the account. [QUOTE=The Tao’s Revenge] Don’t you think it’s a little predatory to process them in the most expensive way possible for the customer? Maybe the bank shares some responsability in the way it handles transactions? Asswipes just wanted to extort all the money the could from OP like some kind slimy loan shark. [/QUOTE] No, I don’t. If I were in the situation where I screwed up and had $400 in my account, I’d prefer that my rent check of $500 cleared first and foremost, before anything else. I’d hate to have THAT be the returned item, rather than the $3.00 purchase at the drugstore. It’s not predatory, it’s actually in the consumer’s interest. And it happens to work out that it’s in the bank’s interest, too. [QUOTE=newcrasher] And about the disclosures? It is about 18 pages of fine print that nobody reads. But you are right that it is legal. But it is NOT moral. [/QUOTE] Whose fault is it that no one bothers to read the 18 pages of fine print? I read it. Seems at least one other person bothers to, too. Why the hell would you enter a contract without reading the fine print? For the most part, you provide the bank little incentive to give you that free checking account. You put money in, you take it out, the bank gets nothing out of it (except for the occasional free, temporary loan – but if you’re the kind of consumer who is consistently ODing, that’s likely to be little incentive to keep them working for you). The catch? You have to pay a fee, set by them and agreed to by you, whenever you screw up. Sounds fine by me. > [@](#): > > How do yo feel about the fact that the poor pay the most ODs? Does this seem fair to you? Of course the poor pay most of the OD fees – the poor are the ones with account balances near 0. It makes complete sense that someone with $100,000 rarely see an OD fee. It’s not predatory, really. No one forces the poor to overdraft. It’s called living within your means, and while difficult at times, it can be done. [QUOTE=Spectre of Pithecanthropus] Although I showed them the stub of the check, they refused to reverse a single one of the overdrafts, about $250 in all, saying that only bank errors can justify such actions. In addition I had to get the cashier’s check back from the person, who fortunately hadn’t cashed it. [/QUOTE] This sounds like it _was_ a bank error, since you were given misinformation by a representative of the bank. In this case, if they refused to correct their error, I’d agree that it’s fucked up and time to move on to a new bank/CU. > [@](#): > > Before anyone gets all sanctimonious about not spending money we didn’t have, I’d like to ask why the bank gets to hold our deposits for a week? To verify them. Cash deposits aren’t held because they’re cash. Check deposits can be held until they clear the originating bank to protect against fraud. It sucks that it’s a rule passed on to everyone, but it makes sense for the bank to cover their ass. Fraudster deposits a check drawn on Bank X for $100,000. If the bank cleared the funds immediately, Fraudster could then withdraw that $100,000 and make off scot free. Meanwhile, days later, Bank X says “no way, that’s a bad check, we’re not paying it.” Your bank is then screwed. I, too, hate that deposits are sometimes held, but I completely understand why. [QUOTE=cmosdes] A fee for that makes no sense, other than as a profit point for banks. [/QUOTE] And it IS a profit point for banks, we talked about that upthread. I, personally, see nothing wrong with that. The bank can set whatever rules it wants to, and if you don’t like them, vote with your feet. Hell, my bank could declare a $50 fee for every transaction made at a liquor store. The great thing is, I don’t have to put up with it. But if I chose to put up with it, and I made 3 liquor store purchases in a week, I wouldn’t be complaining about the $150 profit they made. ---
**Author:** ![purple\_haze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/db5fbb/32.png) [@purple\_haze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purple_haze)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overdraft-fees-suck/471667/33 "2008-11-08T07:06:58Z")
A couple of years ago when I still accepted checks for E-Bay sales, I sold a rather nice (and expensive) item. I deposited the check and waited the 10 days for it to clear, as per the bank rules. The day after it cleared, I shipped the item, got groceries, filled the gas tank, and wrote a check for my son’s school lunches. _Boing, boing_. Two of the checks bounced. As it turned out, on day 11 the deposited check was refused for insufficient funds. I was also charged a returned check fee on top of the overdraft fees, for the check that I had deposited. I only take Paypal for E-Bay sales now. People have asked if they can send a check, but there is no way. After reviewing the facts, the bank did agree to drop the charges because their rules clearly stated that the check hold time was 10 days. I never did get paid for the E-Bay item, although she made lots of promises. At any rate, all of this crap about reading the disclosures is something that I actually do. Was there any point in my OP that I stated that “I didn’t know”, or “What a shock”? No. I _said_ that I made a mistake. Some of us actually do things like that, unlike the perfect few pointing fingers. I’ll bet you all floss every night, too. I don’t need you to tell me to read the disclosures - that isn’t even relevent to my OP. ---
**Author:** ![cmosdes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@cmosdes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmosdes)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overdraft-fees-suck/471667/34 "2008-11-08T07:32:43Z")
> [@atomicbadgerrace](#): > > And it IS a profit point for banks, we talked about that upthread. I, personally, see nothing wrong with that. The bank can set whatever rules it wants to, and if you don’t like them, vote with your feet. Hell, my bank could declare a $50 fee for every transaction made at a liquor store. The great thing is, I don’t have to put up with it. But if I chose to put up with it, and I made 3 liquor store purchases in a week, I wouldn’t be complaining about the $150 profit they made. I assume from this you feel everything should be decided by the free market? Usury laws are unnecessary? Taken to the extreme, even disclosing fees should be optional because if you don’t like that your bank doesn’t disclose the fees you can just move along? I never said it shouldn’t be a profit center for the bank. But $35 per transaction when it costs the bank absolutely nothing and coupled with the fact that they purposely process transactions to maximize this seems a bit unfair. From the banks perspective it is fair and legal and someone probably even got a fat bonus for coming up with this scheme. But OD fees do suck if you are the consumer. It sucks worse that banks are taking advantage of a person in a bad situation. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overdraft-fees-suck/471667/35 "2008-11-08T08:17:22Z")
Is this OD fees an American thing? I have an agreed OD of £600 which I have never used in the 15 years I’ve been banking with this particular bank. Now if I should use this facility I would not be charged a single penny. On the other hand, if I had no agreed OD facilities and I did overdraw I’m certain my bank would contact me first asking if there was a problem ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_fight\_the\_hypothetical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/59ef9b/32.png) [@Don\_t\_fight\_the\_hypothetical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_fight_the_hypothetical)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overdraft-fees-suck/471667/36 "2008-11-08T08:25:15Z")
Asshole checking in. I’ve never gotten a speeding ticket, guess why? I don’t speed. Similarly… ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overdraft-fees-suck/471667/37 "2008-11-08T08:40:26Z")
Another question: I can sort of understand why commercial banks do it, they exist to generate profit for shareholders, and OD fees contribute to that. But why a credit union? Credit unions originated to serve working people who often run short from time to time. Why wouldn’t mine reverse my OD fees when it wasn’t like I didn’t actually have the money? I spent a whole morning running the numbers through Excel to try to figure out why I had been overdrawn when the balance was never actually in the red, and then I realized that a small portion of my deposit had been held for a couple of extra days. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overdraft-fees-suck/471667/38 "2008-11-08T08:42:05Z")
> [@Don\_t\_fight\_the\_hypothetical](#): > > Asshole checking in. > I’ve never gotten a speeding ticket, guess why? I don’t speed. Similarly… Oh really. Do you expect us to believe that you have never driven, say, 37mph in a 35mph zone? How about in parking garages? Do you actually always drive 5mph? ---
**Author:** ![Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleeps_With_Butterflies)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overdraft-fees-suck/471667/39 "2008-11-08T09:06:13Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > Oh really. > > Do you expect us to believe that you have never driven, say, 37mph in a 35mph zone? > > How about in parking garages? Do you actually always drive 5mph? Speeding tickets are expensive, but if I get one and I’m speeding then I know it’s my fault. I pay my fine. I hate it, but I pay it. I don’t even really bitch about it because I think of all of the times I have been a speeder and didn’t get caught. When I was an undgrad and super poor, I bounced a check once. Once. I got $105 in fees that started from a $40 check. They didn’t remove a single dollar of the fees and it made grocery shopping even tighter than normal and I had to have a payment plan set up for my telephone bill, but I paid the fee. I haven’t had an OD fee since then. I’m not trying to make the OP feel bad, because we do make mistakes. Still, the bank has their rules. You want to play the game, you play by the rules of the house. Most people have free checking accounts with debit cards. I know few people who pay for their checking accounts or checks. If you have so little money in the bank that you can’t cover your checks, you can bet they’re making very little (read NO) money on your money via interest. I can’t begrudge them their punitive fees when I mess up. So, it sucks and most of us have been there at least once, but that’s the way it works. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_fight\_the\_hypothetical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/59ef9b/32.png) [@Don\_t\_fight\_the\_hypothetical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_fight_the_hypothetical)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overdraft-fees-suck/471667/40 "2008-11-08T09:42:32Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > Oh really. > > Do you expect us to believe that you have never driven, say, 37mph in a 35mph zone? I do do my best to never exceed the posted limits. Do I ever drift 2 MPH above (as you suggest)? Maybe, but I try not to. Thing is, they tend not to write tickets for going 2 MPH over the speed limit. I understand the rules and I abide by them. Is it fun for me? No. Do I wish I had more slack? Oh, hell yeah! But rules is rules. Sorry you lack the discipline, but , yes, I follow the rules. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overdraft-fees-suck/471667.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overdraft-fees-suck/471667.md?page=3)