Court Approves Chase Overdraft Class Action Settlement

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UPDATE 4.26.13: The Court entered Final Approval to the Chase overdraft class action settlement. All settlement funds will be distributed before May 17, 2013.

A federal court has approved the $110 million Chase overdraft fee class action lawsuit settlement reached in October 2012. That means some Class Members that incurred overdraft fees between 2003 and 2010 will automatically receive refunds to their Chase accounts, while other Class Members will have to file a Claim Form by February 8, 2013 in order to receive a payment.

The Chase overdraft settlement is the latest settlement to be reached in the massive class action lawsuit In re Checking Account Overdraft Litigation. The litigation involves more than 30 banks sued over their overdraft-fee policies, in which customers say the banks reordered debit card transactions in order to maximize overdraft fees. The Chase overdraft fee class action lawsuit also claims that, instead of declining transactions when an account had insufficient funds to cover a purchase, Chase 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.

Chase denies any wrongdoing but has agreed to a $110 million class action lawsuit settlement to resolve the litigation. Chase has also agreed that, for a period of at least two years, it will not charge overdraft fees on individual debit card transactions of $5.00 or less.

On December 19, 2012, the Court approved the Chase overdraft fee class action lawsuit settlement as fair and reasonable.

Class Members of the Chase overdraft fee class action settlement include anyone who (A) held a Chase, Bank One, or Bank of New York consumer deposit account accessible with a Chase debit card anytime between January 1, 2003 and March 29, 2010; and (B) were charged one or more overdraft fees as a result of Chase’s practice of posting debit card transactions from highest to lower dollar amount.

To be included in the Class, you must have had two or more overdraft fees on a single day during the time period listed above.

Some Class Members will automatically receive their payments from the Chase overdraft class action settlement, either as account credits (if you still have a Chase account) or in the form of a check (if you no longer have a Chase account). These “automatic” Class Members include all Chase accounts (except former BoNY accounts) who incurred an overdraft fee during the time period January 1, 2005 through March 29, 2010, and Chase accounts that formerly were BoNY accounts and incurred an overdraft fee between April 1, 2007 and March 29, 2010.

Other Class Members will need to file a Claim Form by the deadline of February 8, 2013 in order to receive a payment. These “non-automatic” Class Members include Chase account holders who incurred an overdraft fee between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2004. It also includes holders of Chase accounts that formerly were Bank of New York accounts and incurred an overdraft fee from October 2, 2006 through April 1, 2007.

The amount of money you will receive from the Chase overdraft settlement will depend on the number of overdraft fees charged to your Chase account during the Class Period. Payments will be made after all appeals have been resolved. At this time, no appeal has been filed.

Claim Forms and more information on your rights in the Chase Overdraft Fee Class Action Lawsuit Settlement can be found at www.ChaseOverdraftSettlement.com. Detailed claims filing instructions can be found in our Open Lawsuit Settlements section.