According to America’s big banks, the banking system has never been more efficient or convenient for customers.

In a recent survey conducted by the American Bankers Association,the data shows that a majority of Americans – 61 percent — pay zero dollars in monthly fees for checking accounts and ATM services.

However, banks and credit unions are still apparently profiting up to billions of dollars in service charges and overdraft fees.

According to a report from SNL Financial, three of the largest U.S. banks collectively made more than $1 billion in these kinds of fees in just the first quarter alone.

JPMorgan Chase & Co., Wells Fargo & Co., and Bank of America Corp each brought in over a third of a million from just overdraft fees during that quarter. The banks each made a little under $100 million each in ATM fees as well.

These banks have disclosed these numbers due to a new federal government requirement, which forces all banks with more than $1 billion in assets disclose these kinds of charges to the public. Instead of making this separation obvious, banks used to simply lump these numbers in with the rest of their income.

These numbers are huge, despite the fact that most Americans do not pay these fees. So if 61 percent of Americans do not contribute to these banks’ billions of dollars in overdraft fees, ATM fees, and other monthly fees, who is?

In most cases, it is those who can least afford it that are forced to consistently pay these kinds of fees. Those who cannot maintain a minimum balance of hundreds of dollars in an account are penalized, and are therefore part of the 39 percent generating billions for big banks.

Credit Union Overdraft Fee Practices

Banks and credit unions are experiencing more and more pressure to change the way they run their overdraft programs. Some credit unions have overdraft programs that may be considered out-of-date and confusing for consumers.

These kinds of programs often involve dynamic overdraft limits, or programs which are not transparently available and understandable for the consumers.

Some credit unions have overdraft procedures which are undisclosed and leave consumers unsure as to whether or not their finances are in order.

In some cases, for instance, transactions may be processed non-neutrally – that is, not necessarily in the chronological order in which they occur – and leave consumers unaware of the state of their finances on a day-to-day basis.

This may mean that, at some institutions, transactions might be processed in order of largest to smallest rather than by date. Processing these in order of largest to smallest would make multiple overdraft fees much more likely to occur.

Credit unions that some consumers have allegedly suffered unfair fees from include Tinker Federal Credit Union, Oklahoma City, OK; Space Coast Credit Union, Melbourne, FL; Lake Michigan Credit Union, Grand Rapids, MI; and Eastman Credit Union, Kingsport, TN.

If you or someone you know has suffered from what you believe to be unfair overdraft fees or other charges from a bank or credit union, you may be able to either file a lawsuit or join a credit union overdraft fee class action lawsuit.

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