ACH Transfer Fees: Who’s Affected?

Do you pay your bills online? Do you make deposits into a retirement or savings account? Do you transfer money to family or friends who go to a bank other than your own? Every yes means you are transferring funds using the Automated Clearing House Network — probably without even realizing it.

Automatic Clearing House (ACH) transfers are meant to be a convenient and inexpensive (or free) way of transferring funds between accounts at different banks. However, some banking institutions may not be so candid about how and when ACH transfer fees are charged.

Lawsuit Alleges Bank of America Customers May Be Incurring Deceptive ACH Transfer Fees

If you’re a customer of Bank of America, you may have noticed that a $3 or $10 fee was imposed for making a transfer to another bank account. Additionally, if you read the alleged notice on Bank of America’s website, you might have believed that there was no other option than to incur these fees. A recently filed class action lawsuit contends that there is a way to avoid these fees, but Bank of America fails to inform its customers that they are able to do so.

According to the lawsuit, the ACH fees can be avoided by having a payee “pull” the funds from a Bank of America account, rather than by “pushing” the funds into an account at another financial institution. The plaintiffs argue that they could have made the same transaction without being charged a fee if Bank of America did not mislead them.  

How Can You Avoid Incurring ACH Transfer Fees?

There are a few ways you may be able to avoid incurring ACH transfer fees. If you know that your bank charges them for sending money to an account at another financial institution, you can ask the payee to pull the funds from your account. You can also set up recurring payments for your bills — there is usually no fee when a company removes a monthly payment from your account. However, you could incur a charge for making a one-time expedited payment.

In addition, if you are transferring money to friends or family, you might consider using Zelle or sending money through a social payment money transfer app. But keep in mind that in some instances there can be fees associated with these platforms, such as if you use a credit card to make the transaction.

What Can You Do About Deceptive ACH Transfer Fees?

If you’ve wrongfully incurred ACH transfer fees, you might be able to contact your bank to get them reversed. If your banking institution has charged these fees deceptively, you may be entitled to file a lawsuit or join a class action lawsuit. It’s best to speak with a knowledgeable class action attorney who can discuss your legal rights and remedies.