Wells Fargo may take advantage of consumers through unfair overdraft policies, according to class action lawsuits.
Unfair overdraft fees: Overview
Overdraft fees are charged as a part of overdraft protection programs offered through banks and credit unions such as Wells Fargo. In return for allowing transactions to “overdraft” their account, consumers pay their bank an overdraft fee. This fee may put their account further in the negative but allows consumers to use their bank account despite having a negative balance. Consumers can only be charged overdraft fees if they have opted into their bank’s overdraft protection program.
Several banks and credit unions face legal action as a result of allegedly unfair overdraft fee practices. Some banks have been accused of charging multiple overdraft fees on a single transaction due to subsequent attempts to clear a transaction. Others have been accused of reordering transactions in order to maximize the number of fees charged during transaction processing. Oftentimes, consumers say that they were not given all the necessary information about a bank’s overdraft policies when opting into overdraft protection. This may result in surprise overdraft fees.
In the face of customer scrutiny, big banks such as Wells Fargo are reducing or entirely eliminating their overdraft fees. However, this does not change the fact that consumers may have fallen victim to banks’ unfair overdraft fees in the past. Consumers may still have a legal claim against Wells Fargo.
Wells Fargo overdraft class action lawsuit
Unfortunately, Wells Fargo may have a history of taking advantage of customers through unfair bank fees.
In 2010, Wells Fargo was ordered to pay $203 million in a class action verdict. The verdict was reached in a class action lawsuit claiming that the bank misled customers about overdraft fees. Plaintiffs in the case accused the company of reordering transactions in order to charge overdraft fees on multiple transactions.
In 2017, one Wells Fargo customer took legal action against the bank for its allegedly predatory overdraft fee policies. The plaintiff in the case says that he was charged multiple overdraft fees on transactions despite never opting into Wells Fargo’s overdraft protection program.
The source of this issue was an Uber transaction, the plaintiff contends. According to the class action lawsuit, Wells Fargo should have treated his Uber ride as a one-time transaction and not authorized it based on insufficient funds. Instead, Wells Fargo allegedly took advantage of the situation by authorizing the transaction. This allowed the bank to charge multiple overdraft fees on other transactions known at the time of authorization, the Wells Fargo customer claims. According to the Wells Fargo class action lawsuit, these fees violated the bank’s account agreements.
In 2021, Wells Fargo agreed to pay over $10 million to put these allegations to rest. Although Wells Fargo resolved this class action lawsuit, consumers could still take action against the company for other unfair overdraft fees.
Join a Wells Fargo overdraft fees class action lawsuit investigation
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This article is not legal advice. It is presented for informational purposes only.
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Wells Fargo charged me numerous charges in the thousands and them closed my account due to too many overdraft fees last year
Please add me.
I doubt there’s a case for me – as this happened years ago in 2005 the last time I made the (sordid mistake) of using Wells Fargo – but yes, like others I was taken for a ride on having an account with them. I had barely enough money for my dial up internet as I was between jobs, etc. So knowing this, a Wells FArgo representative talked me into getting unemployment insurance while unemployed (I knew next to nothing about money and banking at that point being just a bit over 20) and THEN knowing I had no money for the $20 it’d cost, bounced it over eight times in a row, closed my account and sent it to collections for $180.
Please add me
I know that I was charged overdraft fees repeatedly, I finally sent them an email in regards to the fees and I also told them “Look here, if the money isn’t in my account then DON’T pay the bill and if you choose to pay the bill then that’s on you” it got me nowhere, I finally just let it go and they closed my account- won’t let me back in to get copies of my statements and same thing with another banking institution, thoroughly annoyed!
I have been charged insufficient funds fees from Wells Fargo in the last 6 months. Please help.
Yes
Yes I have been charged many times but yet I pay for a over protection fee every month
Please add me. Yes I have been charged many times but yet I pay for a over protection fee every month
Have had a Wells Fargo account for over 20 years, I am sure I have been charged incorrect overdraft fees.
I had an account with Wells Fargo, but I closed it last year due to the overdraft fees. My account wouldn’t show that I was overdrafting until it was nearly 100 dollars overdrafted. I called and tried to talk to them about it but to no avail. All I was told was that I had to pay. I seriously started crying because one time it took my whole Check.
I had a Wells Fargo bank account I closed it in 2020. I know they charged me overdrafted fees.
Are you interested in a new class action lawsuit against Wells Fargo for a payment increase scheme and payment missing schem in how the bank managed a mortgage to lead to a wrongful foreclosure? Case can be proven Wells Fargo utilized the scheme by rigging their system to show false overdue payments. Call me at 631 608-0597 Deanna