by Beks
I bank with Great Western… oops, I bank with Washington Mutual… uh, no, I bank with Chase. Yeah, Chase. Sorry, my bank keeps getting bought out and I never know what to call it anymore. But each time the bank changes hands, I get a whole new set of rules and regulations.
I’m a nerd, therefore, I read the 7 million pages of information they send each time someone takes over.
One piece of information Chase customers couldn’t have possibly missed over the last month, even if they aren’t nerds and throw away 90% of the information, is the new set of overdraft rules. Unless customers are protected by the new ‘Chase Debit Card Overdraft Coverage’, everyday debit card purchases will not be approved if you don’t have sufficient available funds.
If you elect to add the Chase Debit Card Overdraft Coverage, you will be charged the standard $34 overdraft fee per transaction.
I haven’t had an overdraft charge in a very long time but I’m excited that I have the option to be declined rather than accidentally pay $35 for a Snickers bar. I decided to decline the Overdraft Coverage.
Trust me, I can handle the embarrassment of someone telling me I’m broke.
What do you think? Are you a “Decline me. I don’t care” sort of person or do you think there is a reason to keep the overdraft protection?
Beks is a full-time government employee who enjoys blogging late into the night after her four kids have gone to sleep. She’s been married to Chris, her college sweetheart, for 15 years. In 2017, after 3 long years working the Dave Ramsey Baby Steps, they paid off more than $70K and became debt free. When she’s not working or blogging, she’s exploring the great outdoors.
I would much rather have my card declined than pay a $34 fee! It might be a little embarrassing, but I’d rather have the option of choosing another method of payment than paying the ridiculous fees!
I declined the overdraft protection. I don’t want them to let me spend more than I have and then charge me a fee to do it. Shame on me if I don’t know what I have in my bank account before I go shopping.
I’ve never understood why this isn’t standard practice – if the money isn’t there, it should be declined!!!!
If I don’t have the $$ in there… I do not want to keep spending like I DO… crazy… not only will I not have the original $$ – I will be out $34! Yeah, right… sign me up for THAT… NOT.
Debra
The last 2 posts on your blog site and inspired me more than any of the “how to get out of debt” books have…ever. Thank you! Explaining that after working so hard on eliminating debt you really don’t want to spend any of the extra money available to your budget, you’d rather continue the climb. AND, today’s post, it’s okay to bear the embarrassment of being turned down because you are broke. I’m only at the start of the hard work of getting the debt-monkey off our backs, but I will flag these 2 blogs as a reminder when the going gets tough.
I declined this coverage too. It seems to have put Chase into a tizzy — I keep getting mail, online roadblocks, and ATM reminders of the CONSEQUENCES of my decision — I’ll get DECLINED if I don’t have the money in my account!
I told one rep, “No, I won’t. I’ve never, ever overdrafted this account, and I’m not going to start doing so just because I no longer have this ‘protection.’ If I don’t have the money, I WON’T get declined — I WON’T GO SHOPPING.”
I did get the coverage. I don’t mind if they decline me for a snickers bar but I do mind if they decline my mortgage, car, insurance premium, etc. I don’t ever use the overdraft either because I balance my checkbook hourly, but if something were to happen and they refused to pay my mortgage I would be up a creek. Just something to think about 😀
Nicole
MY husband went to McDonalds (yuck!) the other day. The lady swiped his card and said it was declined……he had no idea why and was very imbarrassed! She swiped it one more time and then SHE said, “Well, I guess your wife spent all your money!” I was FUMING MAD when he told me what she said. I work right by McDonalds and took money over which was a $100 bill. I so wish I would have known how ugly this lady had been before we got our order taken with someone else. I do believe I would have made a scene! The people at McDonalds are SO RUDE HERE!!! Glad the card was declined instead of huge charges but what gives the employee the right to be nasty to the customer? I wanted to smack her after my husband told me!!!
Those are some crazy fees for overdraft protection.I do have overdraft, but only pay for it if i use it which i rarely do. With my bank its $3/month (which I have waived)and if i use it i pay either the $3 or the interest (whichever is higher). I much prefer this over a 40 charge if i didnt have any overdraft protection.
This is for all banks and credit unions. I do not know which ‘act’ it was but it is law now. You as the consumer have to opt-in and by default you’re opted-out. The banks are sending consumers information so they will opt-in but if you don’t send in the paper to opt-out, you’ll be opted-out anyways by the date they set. Before was the consumer by default was opted-in.
I declined the coverage, however they will still have “discretion” when it comes to bills set up to auto-withdrawal. (like our auto insurance)
I, too, said I did not want the protection and you would have thought I had turned down a million dollar gift.
Her response, “But this saves you embarrassment.” I used the example of Arby’s not a snickers bar :-). I stated if I went to Arby’s to buy a meal and I was “protected” from overdrawing, I would not spend $12 on our meal, I would spend $43 on my meal and Arby’s is not worth $43. I will take embarrassment ANY DAY over their “protection”.
Decline me. I don’t care. I rarely, if ever, use my debit card so it’s probably an unauthorized transaction anyways.
I don’t know when I last overdrafted any account – maybe 20 or 25 years ago? I’m declining this coverage at my bank – if I don’t have the money, don’t pay the check or ATM debit. I’ll keep my money because I don’t need your coverage.
Count me out when it comes to “opting in.” The whole point of debit card is to USE MONEY THAT IS ACTUALLY THERE IN THE ACCOUNT! If I wanted to borrow money I’d use my credit card. Well, except that it is in the ice cube tray in the back of the freezer!
I don’t mind being declined either, but have you investigated credit unions or other banks. All my accounts are at a credit union, I can designate how the overdraft works. First it takes it out of my general savings, if there is not enough then my emergency fund, my credit card with the CU is the last resort and the fee is $2.
The last time I over-drafted was last year when I wrote a check to friend dated for payday. I specifically told her not to deposit it until that day. She insisted the check wouldn’t clear right away but she would wait. She did not wait, I was lucky I had money in my savings.
I’m a Decline Gal myself.
The problem with overdrafts is that it is never just the one fee. By the time the bank notifies you of the original error, another 3-4 items have attempted to clear so the charges total $100 before you even had a chance to correct it. I gladly opt out and get declined rather than fee myself to death.
I have a better solution these days. My credit union offers high interest on an online-only checking account. These types of accounts are popping up all over the country, so see if you can find a local offer. I now have my emergency fund sitting in the checking account getting 3% interest. This money is hidden from my check register so I only see the balance I am allowed to spend. This way, if a $5 math error should put me below “zero” I am not actually overdrawn.
I don’t have or want overdraft for all the reasons mentioned, but having said that I just read an interesting article on it (link below) and the one thing I hadn’t though of is, what if the payment that gets declined is your automatic bill payment to the phone company or whoever. A declined bill payment then impacts your credit rating. Of course you shouldn’t run your account so close to zero that it’s a possibility that you’ll miscalculate and not leave enough in the account to cover the things that will come out automatically, but as the article points out there are times in life where your circumstances may warrant overdraft because your income or expenses are not occuring in the normal pattern (moving, divorcing, widowhood). Perhaps there are times when it would make sense to temporarily arrange for overdraft. Just food for thought.
Here’s the link to the article: http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/personal-finance/article/yfinance/1595/banks-crack-down-on-a-safety-net-for-your-money
I know how great it feels to beat down on a big financial institution, however, these overdraft rules aren’t just for Chase – they’re for all financial institutions, as a result of Congress’ infinite (mis)wisdom stemming from the recent credit card / banking bill, whatever it’s called. Provisions are now taking effect, therefore, the financial institution has to notify you of your options.
I go to chase, i cancelled my account and my personal banker said he would zero out my account and cancel them when there were no pending transactions. I thought great! The retard didn’t leave enough in there to pay the remaining transactions and now I’m stuck with a 34$ fee? I’m pissed especially when the whole reason I cancelled is because they keep charging me 12$ fees that’s supposed to be a one time fee and they charge me daily and don’t reimburse me. I feel like I have nothibg left to do besides be a total b**** when I call.
Oh I forgot to mention^^^
I NEVER signed or agreed to overdraw protection in the first place so this should have never happened or the personal banker is trying to ring me dry of my money now that I’m don’t putting up with their crap.
I opted out of overdraft protection with Chase – and did note their policy that they, at their discretion, might overdraft me to pay any regular payments I make. However, I do not have any regular payments – I pay all my bills individually of my own accord, and the only recurring payments I have are set up through Paypal and I am always have enough balance in my Paypal account to cover those small recurring payments. However, Chase has still over drafted me – apparently they get to decide what a “regular” payment is. I will soon be moving to a local credit union.
This new law is bull and a total joke. It doesnt help for anything and the banks are finding loop holes to steal from their clients. I bank with chase and they are thiefs. Two days ago I chrged 10 dollars to put gas on my card which I had money on it, however the next day one of my recuring payments kicked in which I did not have enough money to cover it. I knew I was going to have to pay the 34$ fee on that transavtion but little did I know the bank held back the gas charge and posted the recurring payment first, then the gas so those sons of mother charged me the fee twice. How does the new law protect me? Either way I have no choice. doesnt matter whether I opt in or out of the stupid pritection, I will still get charged.
My Chase Bank Account Was Overdrawn By $0.71 And I Was Charged A $15.00 Overdraft Fee Not The Normal $34.95 Fee But I Opted Out Of Overdraft Protection But They Are Still Charging Me A Overdraft Fee. I Called The Bank And I Was Told The $15.00 Fee Wasn’t An Overdraft Fee But When I Called The Automated Service On My Account It Stated That A $15.00 Overdraft Charge Was Added To My Account. I Thought If You Opted Out Of Overdraft Protection That The Bank Could Not Charge You An Overdraft Fee.
I would have overdraft coverage on my checks, which I would reserve for larger payments like bills, rent, etc. With checks, they are not always processed right away and sometimes it takes weeks before they are cashed. Sometimes I forget to deduct those bills from my earnings, so I do tend to go over. Fortunately, I don’t do it that often.
For my debit card, I don’t care if I’m not protected. I do keep track of my expenditures, so I would know how much I can spend. Being mindful of what’s in my bank account saves me both the embarrassment and the extra money.