On Nov. 6, customers of the Royal Bank of Canada’s U.S.-based PNC Bank presented a U.S. District Judge James Lawrence King with a proposed $7.5 million settlement, meant to resolve claims that PNC Bank charged customers excessive overdraft fees.

Consumers Propose $7.5 Million Settlement To Settle PNC Bank Overdraft Fee Lawsuit

The case between plaintiffs and PNC Bank was filed in 2010 and has been in litigation for nearly a decade. According to named plaintiff Michael Dasher, the bank failed to warn him and other consumers about the possibility of overdraft fees associated with debit card purchases. He also claims that the bank rearranged his and others’ transactions, in order to assess multiple overdraft fees stemming from the same transaction. Due to the rearranged transactions, Michael claims that the bank was able to maximize the fees assessed against him. Dasher claims that this behavior violated the Bank’s good faith duties, as well as consumer protection statutes.

The plaintiffs in the PNC case are not the first banking customers to claim that financial institutions are rearranging transactions in order to assign multiple fees to consumers. According to a Pew study from 2016, at least 40 percent of large U.S. banks rearrange customer transactions. Rather than processing these transactions in chronological order, many banks rearrange them from largest to smallest. This method of processing transactions leads to the funds in the account being depleted more quickly and may result in additional overdraft fees for consumers. This practice may also result in customers being unable to accurately determine how much money they have available in their accounts.

If the settlement is approved, PNC Bank will pay $7.5 million to a class of consumers who held accounts with the bank between October 2007 and March 2012 and were charged at least one overdraft fee due to transaction rearranging. The judge is expected to issue a decision on the settlement in 2020.

Background on Overdraft Fees

Overdraft fees are assessed by banks when customers make transactions without the appropriate amount of money in their account to cover the purchase. When customers have signed up for overdraft protection services, their bank will cover the transaction and assess a fee against the customer’s account. Most banks charge around $30-35 for an overdraft fee. These fees may quickly add up when multiple overdrafts are assessed against consumers for the same set of transactions. According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, overdraft fees and non-sufficient funds fees cost Americans approximately $17 billion each year.

If you have been assessed overdraft fees due to transactions that were rearranged by your bank or credit union, you may be able to hire a qualified attorney and file a class action lawsuit against the financial institution. Victims may be able to recover compensation for these predatory fees.

This Overdraft Fee Lawsuit is In Re: Checking Account Overdraft Litigation, Case No: 1:09-md-02036-JLK, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

If you were charged overdraft fees or NSF fees by your bank or credit union that you believe are improper for any reason, the attorneys who work with Top Class Actions are ready to investigate these fees on your behalf.

Learn more by filling out the form on this page.

Learn More

This article is not legal advice. It is presented
for informational purposes only.