Meriwest overdraft protection policies have recently come under scrutiny for allegedly imposing unfair overdraft fees on members. Many credit union members may be surprised to learn when signing up for Meriwest overdraft protection that there is no daily limit on fees, which has allegedly resulted in numerous unexpected overdraft fees.

Standard Meriwest overdraft protection is called Courtesy Pay Overdraft Privilege, which authorizes and pays overdrafts for transactions. Through this option, overdraft transactions can be made through the consumer’s checking account number and automatic bill pay setups.

It is important to note that Courtesy Pay Overdraft protection does not authorize or pay any overdrafts for ATM transactions or typical debit card transactions. This can change if the customer gives explicit authorization to approve those types of transactions.

Overview of Meriwest Overdraft Protection Policies

Other options of Meriwest overdraft protection include linking to a savings account or line of credit, which the credit union’s website states “may be less expensive than our standard overdraft practices.”

On average, customers can be charged $35 per overdraft or insufficient fund fees. These fees could quickly accumulates due to Meriwest overdraft protection provisions. Meriwest Credit Union does not have a limit in how many overdrafts can be assessed per day, making accumulating overdraft fees especially hard for lower income customers.

Overdraft protection was originally designed to help protect consumers from rejected transactions by covering small purchases or transferring money from a secondary account to the customer’s primary account. This was meant to help lower income or financially strapped customers to cover small purchases like groceries, for which the overdraft fees can be paid back later.

However, banks and credit unions have recently come under fire for questionable overdraft fees policies, which have allegedly allowed financial institutions to maximize overdraft fees. One such method is when banks and credit unions deliberately process transaction in the order of larger transactions first, rather than in order of date, to maximize on overdraft fees.

According to a recent report from Pew Charitable Trusts, excessive overdraft fees have become almost expected in banks and credit unions. These financial institutions have reportedly doubled their revenue from overdraft fees and other insufficient fund fees between 1984 and 2015.

Banks and credit unions allegedly did this after experiencing economic pressure and being forced to find alternative revenue sources due to low interest rates. The Pew Charitable Trust also conducted a national survey, which indicated 87% of consumers were vulnerable to overdraft fees and were concerned about overdraft protection policies.

This concern is especially prevalent for Meriwest members, as Meriwest overdraft policy has no limits in fees. The federal government recently made it illegal for banks and credit unions to sign consumers up for certain types of overdraft protection unless the consumer opts for it.

Consumers have recently begun fighting back against these unfair overdraft policies by filing legal action against financial institutions. Potential claimants who believe they were subjected to unfair fees by Meriwest overdraft protection policies should contact a lawyer to determine eligibility.

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