Can You Get International Bank Fees Refunded from Washington Trust?

Washington Trust customers, and members of other banks and credit unions, may have been charged foreign transaction fees for online purchases.

Where Is Washington Trust Bank Located?

There are several Washington Trust banks and credit unions throughout the country. However, the one at issue is an East Coast company with locations in Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Massachusetts.

Washington Trust touts itself as “the oldest community bank in the nation” as it was founded in 1800. In 2019, the bank was reportedly named on Forbes magazine’s list of Best-In-State Banks and on American Banker’s Best Banks To Work For list. Unfortunately, their consumers may be charged unfair foreign transaction fees, according to a recent attorney investigation.

Does Your Washington Trust Credit Card Have a Foreign Transaction Fee?

Foreign transaction fees are charged when consumers make a purchase outside of the country. These fees usually leverage a 1% to 3% charge on transactions in order to cover the costs of converting to foreign currencies.

According to Washington Trust’s website, the bank does charge foreign transaction fees. For a transaction or foreign ATM advance in U.S. dollars, the bank charges a 2% fee. For transactions or foreign ATM advances in foreign currencies, the bank charges a 3% foreign transaction fee.

Recently, consumers have claimed that they are charged international transaction fees on foreign transactions despite making the transactions from home. According to some disgruntled customers, they should not have been charged these fees because they made the transaction from their home country. Others argue that these practices violate a bank or credit union’s own policies governing foreign transaction fees.

How Can You Avoid Bank Fees?

According to the American Bankers Association and other experts, most bank fees are avoidable by following these simple tips:

• Use checking and savings accounts which do not involve fees (minimum balance fees, etc.). Being intentional in seeking out a bank with no foreign transaction fees or other transaction fees can also help avoid unnecessary costs.
• Sign up for direct deposit from work. This will allow consumers to have your money immediately available to you without having to wait for a check to clear. Although this won’t help with potential foreign transaction fees, it could help account holders avoid other fees.
• Use email or text alerts to avoid low-balance related fees such as overdraft fees, bounced checks, and NSF fees.
• To avoid international transaction fees from Washington Trust and other banks, be careful when making online purchases. If prices are listed in foreign currencies, these purchases could result in a foreign transaction fee. However, even if prices are listed in USD, the seller could be classified as international – thereby garnering an international transaction fee.
• Know the terms of any applicable account agreements to be aware of which fees a bank is contractually allowed to charge.

Although these tips are valuable for avoiding all sorts of bank fees, consumers may still be surprised by these charges – especially if their banks use unfair business practices. Some bank fees may be stubborn and hard to get rid of, though customers can attempt to seek a refund of international transaction fees and other expenses directly from their banks.

How Can You Get Bank Fees Refunded?

Bank fees can be a significant and unexpected expense for consumers. In some cases, consumers may feel that they were unfairly charged bank fees in violation of the law or their financial institution’s policies. If you were subject to unexpected bank fees, there may be a few steps you can take to get these fees refunded.

Most experts agree that speaking to the bank or credit union at issue is the easier first step you can take. Speaking to a customer service representative may be a quick and relatively easy way to have these fees wiped.

Even if you can’t get the fees completely wiped out, you may be able to negotiate the total fees down. By politely explaining the situation, you may find that your bank or credit union is willing to reduce the fees charged to you.

You can reference your personal financial situation or even your history with the bank when arguing your case, as these factors may sway a bank or credit union to temporarily waive a fee or reduce it based on personal circumstances.

If you get pushback on this issue from a general consumer representative, you can always ask to speak to a supervisor or higher up. In some cases, these employees are authorized to take action while others may not be.

When Can You File a Bank Fees Class Action?

Generally, consumers should work with their bank and attempt to resolve foreign transaction bank fees through internal measures. Unfortunately, not all banks will honor these attempts. If you have tried to have foreign transaction fees or other bank fees returned to you to no avail, you may be eligible to take legal action in a bank fees class action lawsuit.

Legal action against a bank or credit union may allege that the financial institution at issue violated various laws or their own policies by charging foreign transaction fees or other bank fees. These lawsuits may seek financial restitution for charged fees, along with other monetary awards.

Some consumers have already taken legal action against their banks with the help of a qualified lawyer. For example, Navy Federal Credit Union was hit with a class action lawsuit last month by consumers claiming that the credit union wrongfully charged one user a 1% foreign transaction fee.

The plaintiff says that she made a purchase from an online retailer which she wasn’t aware was based outside of the United States. After her transaction was processed, Navy Federal Credit Union allegedly charged her a 1% fee of $1.38 on her $137.56 transaction. According to the foreign transaction fees class action lawsuit, this fee violated the credit union’s own policies which fail to disclose that consumers can be charged these fees on online transactions.

You may be able to take similar action against your bank if you were charged a foreign transaction fee for an online purchase. Attorneys are looking into Washington Trust and several other banks and credit unions to see if consumers were wrongfully charged fees in violation of the law or bank policies. In addition to Washington Trust, lawyers are interested in speaking to customers of the following financial institutions:

• HSBC
• Glacier
• Centerstate
• Washington Trust (RI)
• Valley National
• Arvest
• Liberty Bank (CT)
• UMB
• Central Pacific
• PSECU
• And more.

Join a Free Foreign Transaction Fees Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you were charged a foreign transaction fee on a debit card or credit card purchase made on a foreign website, you may qualify to join this foreign transaction fees class action lawsuit investigation.

Get a Free Case Evaluation

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

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