BMO Harris Bank stopped NSF fees but may have previously unlawfully charged them

BMO Harris Bank NSF fees overview: 

• Who: BMO Harris Bank is part of a class action lawsuit investigation involving non-sufficient fund fees. 
• Why: There is no evidence to suggest BMO Harris has done anything improper, but it is one of several banks included in the investigation.
• Where: BMO Harris is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. 

BMO Harris Bank is no stranger to accusations involving fees. The bank agreed to pay $9.4 million in 2013 to resolve claims it manipulated debit card transactions so it could charge overdraft fees. 

The settlement was among dozens reached as part of a large consolidated class action lawsuit involving 30 of the biggest banks in the United.

Consumers argued BMO Harris authorized transactions for accounts that had insufficient funds rather than declining them. They also claimed the bank processed the transactions from the highest to lower dollar amount so it could increase the number of overdraft fees it could charge. 

The bank denied the claims but ultimately decided to agree to the class action settlement as a way to resolve the litigation. 

While no evidence exists to suggest it has done anything improper, BMO is now involved in a class action lawsuit investigation regarding non-sufficient fund fees.

In June 2022, the bank announced it would be eliminating both NSF fees and overdraft transfer fees, in addition to “significantly reducing” overdraft fees. 

CFPB calls doing away with NSF fees a ‘positive development’ for consumers

An NSF fee is a type of bank fee charged to bank customers in the event a transaction or check is rejected from their account due to it not having a high enough balance to cover it, causing the item to be returned unpaid. 

A number of banks made the decision to do away with charging NSF fees in early 2022, a move the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says was a “positive development” in a blog post from March 2022. 

“Indeed, NSF fees intensify financial distress for consumers, who often are already at their financial edge and who will often also be hit by the fee merchants charge when a consumer’s payment bounces,” the CFPB says. 

The average cost of an NSF fee is $34, according to the CFPB, which wrote in its blog post that “many banks” were continuing to charge the fees. 

Have you been charged an improper NSF fee by your bank? You may qualify to join a free NSF fee class action lawsuit investigation.

Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:

• CitiBank may have improperly charged NSF fees despite eliminating them in 2022
• Chase Bank aided Ponzi scheme with real estate developer, lawsuit claims
• Wells Fargo class action claims bank won’t disclose ‘error’ in mortgage loans
• Appeals court vacates part of summary judgment in BoA fee class action