$24.5M BancorpSouth Overdraft Fee Settlement Approved

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On Tuesday, a Florida federal judge preliminarily approved a $24.5 million class action settlement over allegations BancorpSouth Bank charged improper overdraft fees.

Lead plaintiff Shane Swift filed the overdraft fee class action lawsuit in Florida federal court in May 2010, accusing BancorpSouth of improperly resequencing debit card transactions to increase the number of overdraft fees it assessed.

Swift’s overdraft fee class action lawsuit was subsequently consolidated into multidistrict litigation involving a number of cases with similar allegations against banks who allegedly charged improper overdraft fees.

Many of the banks named as defendants in that litigation have already reached overdraft fee class action settlements.

According to Swift’s overdraft fee class action lawsuit, BancorpSouth re-sequenced debit card and ATM transactions from highest to lowest dollar amount, increasing the number of overdraft transactions and overdraft fees it charged account holders. The BancorpSouth class action lawsuit asserted several causes of action, including breach of contract, breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing, unconscionability, unjust enrichment, and violation of the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act.

BancorpSouth denies all allegations of wrongdoing but has agreed to settle the class action lawsuit to avoid the burden, expense and uncertainty associated with ongoing litigation.

The court has certified a Class of all BancorpSouth account holders who incurred one or more overdraft fees as a result of BancorpSouth’s “High-to-Low Posting.” There are approximately 191,000 current and former BancorpSouth account holders who are eligible Class Members of the overdraft fee settlement.

Swift’s attorneys have indicated that the proposed class action settlement would provide a nearly 58 percent recovery for Class Members.

The court preliminarily approved the overdraft fee class action settlement after finding its terms were “fair, reasonable and adequate.”

“The Court finds that the Settlement was reached in the absence of collusion, and is the product of informed, good-faith, arms’-length negotiations between the parties and their capable and experienced counsel,” the judge wrote.

According to the court documents, information about the BancorpSouth settlement will be updated on the website www.BancorpSouthOverdraftLitigation.com. Notice of the class action settlement will be mailed to Class Members in April.

More information about the BancorpSouth overdraft fee class action settlement was not immediately available. Keep checking TopClassActions.com or sign up for our free newsletter for the latest updates. You can also mark this article as a “Favorite” using your free Top Class Actions account to receive notifications when this article is updated.

Swift is represented by Bruce Stephen Rogow of Bruce S. Rogow PA, Darren Kaplan of Darren Kaplan Law Firm PC, David Marc Buckner and Robert Cecil Gilbert of Grossman Roth PA and Jeffrey M. Ostrow, Robert Gilbert and Jonathan M. Streisfeld of Kopelowitz Ostrow PA.

The BancorpSouth Overdraft Fee Class Action Lawsuit is Swift, et al. v. BancorpSouth Bank, Case No. 1:10-cv-00090, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, Gainesville Division.

The Improper Overdraft Fee MDL is In re: Checking Account Overdraft Litigation, Case No. 1:09-md-02036, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

UPDATE: The BancorpSouth overdraft fee class action settlement is now open! Click here for more details!

Join a Free Bank Overdraft Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you are a bank or credit union customer and you were charged overdraft fees, you could be eligible to participate in a FREE class action lawsuit investigation. If you qualify, an attorney will contact you to discuss the details of your potential case at no charge to you.