Another Look at Bank Checking Account Overdraft Fees

The Center for Responsible Lending has published a new report titled "Shredded Security - Overdraft practices drain fees from older Americans" that finds that "unauthorized overdrafts strip fees from Americans 55 and older at the level of $4.5 billion per year. Nearly $1 billion of that comes from people who are heavily dependent on Social Security income." The report also finds that "debit cards are the most frequent trigger for overdrafts even for people 55 and older – these debit card overdrafts are both extremely costly and easy to prevent if the banks were interested in discouraging them."

The ABA has issued a separate press release citing a separate study finding that "91 percent of Americans aged 55 and over have not paid overdraft fees in the last year."