Brigette Honaker  |  October 25, 2018

Category: Consumer News

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Is Sterling Bank Charging You High Overdraft Fees?High overdraft fees may rake in large profits for banks like Sterling Bank, but they can be detrimental to consumers and their financial stability. Class action attorneys are taking a closer look at overdraft practices at Sterling Bank and other financial institutions.

Overdrafting a checking account occurs when an incoming transaction exceeds the available balance in the account. When this happens, the bank might deny the transaction. However, some banks offer overdraft protection – a program which allows transactions to go through by advancing funds or moving money from another account for a fee.

These programs can benefit consumers who frequently overdraft their accounts. However, high overdraft fees and unfair overdraft practices can place a large financial burden on consumers.

With the rise of mobile banking, consumers have a better understanding of their bank balances and are overdrafting their accounts less frequently. To compensate for this, many banks have hiked up their overdraft fee amounts to maintain profits. Until only recently, average overdraft fee amounts steadily increased with high overdraft fees around $35.

Bankrate recently reported that average overdraft fee amounts have fallen by 0.5 percent over the past year, with an average of $33.23. However, high overdraft fees continue to provide banks with a huge profit every year despite a slight decrease from last year’s average.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is investigating overdraft fee practices, but no regulation has been implemented yet. Unfortunately, regulations are unlikely to change any time soon.

“Maybe you get a break on the first overdraft because it’s not until the second overdraft that you pay the higher $35 fee,” says Greg McBride, Bankrate’s chief financial analyst. “If there’s any easing up on overdraft fees, it’s going to look more like that rather than just an across-the-board decline in fees.”

High overdraft fees cause additional damage because they further overdraft an account – exacerbating the problem of insufficient funds.

Avoiding high overdraft fees can be difficult but not impossible. By opting out of overdraft protection and keeping a vigilant eye on account balances, consumers may be able to avoid high overdraft fees and their sinister snowballing effects.

Another method for avoiding high overdraft fees is finding a bank which does not charge overdraft fees at all. Certain banks which don’t charge overdraft fees meet standards set by Bank On, a national initiative run by the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund which encourages “safe, affordable bank accounts”.

While some banks pride themselves on providing affordable options to their consumers, other banks allegedly engage in unfair overdraft policies in order to maximize high overdraft fees. Consumers have accused various banks of processing their transactions out of order, often by amount rather than chronologically, in order to maximize overdraft fees. Under these policies, a single transaction may result in multiple overdraft fees due to the order of processing.

The overdraft practices of Sterling Bank and other institutions are under investigation by attorneys. Consumers of Astoria Bank may also be affected, as the bank was acquired by Sterling Bank in October 2017. Astoria Bank consumers may have been affected by high overdraft fees before the financial institution was acquired by Sterling Bank.

You may have a legal claim if your were charged excessive overdraft fees by one of these banks or credit unions:

  • Alliant Credit Union
  • Astoria Bank
  • BECU (Boeing Employees Credit Union)
  • Nationwide
  • Pacific Western
  • State Employees Federal Credit Union (SEFCU – New York)
  • Sterling Bank

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Join a Free Bank Overdraft Fee Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If your bank and credit union has engaged in deceptive overdraft fee practices, you may have a legal claim. Fill out the form on this page now to find out if you qualify!

An attorney will contact you if you qualify to discuss the details of your potential case.

PLEASE NOTE: If you want to participate in this investigation, it is imperative that you reply to the law firm if they call or email you. Failing to do so may result in you not getting signed up as a client or getting you dropped as a client.

In order to properly investigate overdraft fee claims, you may be required to disclose bank statements to overdraft fee attorneys. Please note that any such information will be kept private and confidential.

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