Many banks and credit unions, including Star One Credit Union, have been under the microscope in recent years regarding their overdraft practices.

Star One Credit Union overdraft practices, like many banks, have been accused of being unfair.

When a bank account is overdrawn, or the customer obligates more money to be taken out of his or her account than is available, overdraft protection often comes into play.

Star One Credit Union Overdraft Practices

These days, customers must opt-in to the service at most banks and credit unions. At Star One Credit Union, opt-in overdraft protection is called Courtesy Pay.

Overdraft protection or courtesy pay allows for the bank to pay the amount of the purchase if the account doesn’t have enough money to cover it. According to Star One Credit Union overdraft protection practices, the Courtesy Pay fee is $15 for each overdrawn transaction. 

Many other banks and credit unions charge as much as $25-$35 per overdrawn transaction.

According to Star One’s website, they encourage customers to “set up balance notifications in Online Banking or Mobile Banking.”

The problem lies within the fact that many banks, including Star One Credit Union, have been accused of reordering overdrawn transactions that are made on the same day so that the banks can charge the greatest amount of overdraft fees.

For example, if two charges are made on the same day that may overdraw the account, some banks have been accused of ordering the larger transaction first so that the account will be overdrawn earlier and they can charge fees per overdrawn transaction.

Star One Credit Union overdraft practices and the overdraft practices of other similar banks and credit unions are a big business in the United States. In 2015 alone, the 628 largest financial institutions made $11 billion from overdraft and insufficient fund fees.

This huge windfall for U.S. banks is primarily made off of those who live paycheck-to-paycheck.

A recent study by The Pew Charitable Trusts found that those most impacted by overdraft fees are people who make less than the national median income of $54,000 per year. And those who often need to take advantage of Star One Credit Union overdraft practices and the overdraft protection of other banks pay the equivalent of a week’s worth of wages to overdraft fees.

Many large banks have settled class action lawsuits over overdraft practices. For example, UMB bank agreed to a $7.8 million class action settlement in 2011. The plaintiffs accused the bank of reordering debit card transactions to reap the maximum overdraft fees from its customers.

If you have suffered from unfair Star One Credit Union overdraft practices or unfair overdraft fees at another banking institution, you may have a legal claim. Fill out the form on this page for more information. An experienced overdraft protection attorney can help. 

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