Bank of America slashes fees for account overdrafts

Bank of America also plans to eliminate entirely its fees for bounced checks.

Bank of America slashed the amount it charges customers when they spend more than they have in their accounts and plans to eliminate entirely its fees for bounced checks.

It’s the latest move by the nation’s biggest banks to roll back the overdraft fees they long charged customers, fees that often amount to hundreds of dollars a year for frequent overdraft users.

The bank based in Charlotte, North Carolina, will cut the overdraft fees it charges customers to $10 from $35 starting in May. It will also stop charging fees for non-sufficient funds — which are levied when it rejects a transaction — better known as bouncing a check.

While checks are no longer widely used, NSF fees can come from automated payments like utility bills. Bank of America, the nation’s second-largest bank, says roughly 25% of its overdraft/NSF fee revenue each year came from NSF fees. Overdraft fees typically come when someone makes a purchase on a debit card that exceeds the available cash in their account.

 

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