Bank overdraft practices continue to be in the spotlight after years of new regulations and overdraft fee lawsuits.

A new report by U.S. PIRG Education Fund found that overdraft fee revenues at major banks are on the upswing.

The report says over 600 large banks made $8.4 billion in overdraft fee income in the first three quarters of 2016 – an increase of almost four percent over the same period in the previous year.

The Fund’s study revealed that banks that rely the most on overdraft fee income also had more complaints filed with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in the category of “account funds being low.”

On the other hand, the report revealed that banks directly supervised by the CFPB tended to collect less overdraft revenue per account.

These banks tended to be those with $10 billion in assets or more, which qualifies them for direct CFPB supervision. The CFPB has been scrutinizing bank overdraft practices in particular over the past several years.

New regulations passed in 2010 prohibit banks from tacking overdraft fees onto ordinary debit card or ATM transactions unless the bank customer affirmatively opts into that service.

But reports of other potentially abusive practices have continued. Consumer advocates have called out banks for practices that appear to purposely increase their overdraft fee revenue.

For example, changing the order in which transactions are processed so that more transactions become subject to an overdraft fee, or failing to give customers meaningful notice about the terms of their overdraft services.

First Hawaiian Bank Overdraft Policies

Class action attorneys are now investigating the overdraft fee practices at several banks. One of the many banks falling within the scope of the current investigation is First Hawaiian Bank.

According to the bank’s website, First Hawaiian Bank overdraft services come standard with checking accounts. Other options are available at the customer’s choice. Under standard overdraft services, First Hawaiian may at its own discretion pay transactions that would otherwise overdraw the account.

This service comes with a per-transaction fee of $30, with an exception for transactions that overdraw the account by only $5 or less. If the account remains overdrawn at the end of the day for seven days, First Hawaiian will charge an additional fee of $10.

Standard overdraft service is limited to certain types of transactions including checks, automatic bill payments, and other kinds of transactions made using the account number.

Customers can affirmatively opt out of this service if they don’t want it, but the bank sets it up by default for each checking account.

First Hawaiian Bank overdraft service does not automatically apply to everyday debit card transactions or ATM transactions. To add coverage for those types of transactions, customers can opt into a program called DebitPlus.

First Hawaiian Bank Overdraft Protection is a different service. For customers who request and qualify for Overdraft Protection, the bank will automatically cover would-be overdrafts by transferring funds from either a linked savings account or a pre-approved line of credit.

Transfers made via Overdraft Protection can also be subject to an overdraft fee.

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