Overdraft practices throughout the nation are currently being investigated by federal agencies to take a closer look at how banks and credit unions are conducting business with relation to various services and related overdraft fees.

Some questionable practices have been uncovered as a result of these investigations and a number of banks and credit unions have come under fire for allegedly improper overdraft practices.

Overdraft fees are assessed on accounts when a consumer over draws a checking account and does not have sufficient funds in the account to cover the transaction.

Many times these transactions are point-of-sale debit card transactions at a retailer or ATM withdrawals. Some financial institutions also include things like bill pay, automatic payments and checks written from the account in these practices.

Some banks and credit unions have been accused of reordering transactions that consumers make in order to increase the number of overdraft fees assessed on an account.

Rather than processing the transactions in chronological order, the transactions are processed from largest dollar amounts to smallest dollar amount in order to allegedly maximize profits for financial institutions.

As a result of these practices that some banks and credit unions have undertaken, lawyers have also been investigating the practices at various financial institutions as well.

Alaska USA Federal Credit Union Overdraft Practices

The Overdraft protection product info sheet at the Alaska USA Federal Credit Union website gives a detailed look at the overdraft practices employed by the credit union.

Members who sign up for the overdraft protection offered by Alaska USA Federal Credit Union are able to authorize automatic transfers from other accounts held at the institution if the checking account becomes overdrawn.

If consumers write a check but there are insufficient funds in the checking account to cover the amount of the check, non-sufficient funds fees, also known as overdraft fees, are assessed on the account.

The overdraft fees at Alaska USA Federal Credit Union are $20, an amount that the credit union says is lower than the national average for other financial institutions at $25. In fact, the most recent survey listed the average overdraft fee nationwide as being $28.

When customers of Alaska USA Federal Credit Union sign up for overdraft protection, they are required to link a valid backup source of funds including a savings account, money market account, credit line or Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC).

When Alaska USA Federal Credit Union processes and overdraft for a savings or money market account, the fee is five dollars for each transfer up to six transfers per calendar month.

Overdrafts using credit lines or Home Equity Lines of Credit are free for the first three transfers, and are $5 for each transfer thereafter per month with no limit to the amount of transfers that can be processed.

Members of Alaska USA Federal Credit Union who wish to take advantage of overdraft protection must formally opt into the program by calling the member service center or by visiting any branch to sign up.

Overdraft Fees Class Action Lawsuit Information

If you have been charged for overdraft fees that you believe to be improper, you may have a legal claim. An attorney can review your case for free to help you determine if you qualify to take legal action.

ATTORNEY ADVERTISING

The choice of a lawyer is an important decision and should not be based solely on advertisements.