Citizens Bank Overdraft Fee Class Action Settlement

Citizens Bank Overdraft Fee Class Action Settlement

By Mike Holter

A Details on how to file a claim for the $137.5 million Citizens Bank overdraft class action lawsuit settlement have finally arrived. If you had a Citizens Bank debit card between 2002 and 2010, you may be eligible to file a claim to receive a refund from the Citizens Bank overdraft class action settlement.

The Citizens Bank overdraft settlement will resolve a class action lawsuit, titled In Re: Checking Account Overdraft Litigation, that alleges the bank reordered debit-card transactions from highest to lowest, rather than in order to maximize the number of overdraft fees that could be charged to a customer. The plaintiffs allege that, instead of declining transactions when an account had insufficient funds to cover a purchase, Citizens authorized the transactions and then processed them in highest to lowest dollar order, which had the effect of increasing the number of overdraft fees the bank charged its customers.

Citizens Bank denies the allegations but has agreed to a $137.5 million class action lawsuit settlement to resolve the litigation.

Class Members of the Citizens Bank overdraft class action settlement include anyone who:

• Had a Citizens consumer deposit account that you could access with a Citizens debit card anytime between January 1, 2002 and August 13, 2010, and/or had a Charter One consumer deposit account that you could access with a Charter One debit card any time between July 25, 2005 and August 13, 2010; and/or

• Had an Acquired Bank consumer deposit account that you could access with a debit card between January 1, 2002 and August 27, 2007; and

• Were charged one or more overdraft fees as a result of posting Debit Card Transactions from highest to lowest dollar amount.

Some Class Members do not have to file a Claim Form to receive a payment. They will automatically receive their refund. However, a number of Class Members will have to file a Claim Form by the deadline of January 31, 2013 to receive any money from the Citizens Bank overdraft class action settlement. See Page 5 of the Settlement Notice for more details.

The amount of money you can receive from the Citizens Bank overdraft fee settlement will depend on the number of overdraft fees charged to your Citizens, Charter One or Acquired Bank consumer deposit account as a result of the improper debit card transaction reordering between January 1, 2002 and August 13, 2010.

A Final Fairness Hearing is scheduled for March 7, 2013.

Claim Forms and more information on your rights in the Citizens Bank Overdraft Fee Class Action Lawsuit Settlement can be found at www.CitizensOverdraftSettlement.com. Detailed instructions on how to file a claim can be found in our Open Lawsuit Settlements section.

UPDATE: Payments for the Citizens Bank Overdraft Class Action Settlement went out on September 19, 2013.

Updated November 23rd, 2012

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