TD Bank Must Face Class Action Over $9 ATM Fees for Checking Balance

TD Bank can’t shake allegations it breached contracts with its customers when it stung them with $9 fees for checking their balance at out-of-network ATMs, a judge has decided.

New Jersey US District Judge Robert B. Kugler ruled last Thursday that the bank must continue to face most of the breach of contract claims brought by Plaintiffs Denise Galgano and Tashina Drakeford, both TD bank account holders, Law360 reported.

The pair filed the class action in May last year, alleging the bank’s fee schedule was — until recently — unclear for customers. 

They said that the total fees for using out-of-network ATMs to simply check their balances could add up to $9 per balance-check, which was a shock for many. The fees included a $3 fee for using an ATM out-of-network, a $3 balance-inquiry fee, and a payment to the ATM operator.

TD Bank tried to get rid of the class action last year by saying its fees were clear. In its fee schedule, it states that it charges $3 for “each withdrawal, transfer, and balance inquiry conducted at a non-TD ATM.” 

However, Judge Kugler ruled that the language of the fee schedule was not clear. 

He said that the plaintiffs argued that they took the language of the fee schedule to mean they would be charged $3 per balance inquiry in total, and he had to side with them on that point, Law360 reported.

“The language in the fee schedule is ambiguous, and that ambiguity must be read in plaintiffs’ favor at the motion to dismiss stage,” he said.

While ruling the class action could go ahead, Judge Kugler trimmed two state-specific claims.

He said an allegation that the bank violated New York’s General Business Law had expired due to timing, and that a claim the bank violated New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act didn’t meet the requisite level of “unconscionability.”

Meanwhile, TD Bank last month agreed to a $41.5 million settlement in a class action lawsuit accusing the bank of charging consumers unlawful fees.

The plaintiff in that case filed their class action lawsuit in November 2018, alleging TD Bank charged fees for insufficient funds multiple times when merchants tried multiple times to complete the same transaction. 

The plaintiffs are represented by John E. Keefe Jr. And Stephen T. Sullivan Jr. of Wilentz Goldman & Spitzer PA, Jeffrey D. Kaliel and Sophia Gold of Kaliel PLLC and Taras Kick and Jeffrey C. Bilis of the Kick Law Firm APC.

The TD Bank Balance Inquiry Class Action Lawsuit is Galgano et al., v. TD Bank NA, Case No. 1:20-cv-05623, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

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