That doesnt seem like that much given the population and its an entire year.
Tbf, overdrafting is spending money you dont have. If you overdraft and the bank lets you spend money you dont have, do you think theyre just gonna do you a solid there? They let you spend money you didnt actually have. Thats a service, like credit, and one that tends to come at a cost even though some banks dont charge for it.
To call a bank charging for an offered service “robbing you” is pretty ridiculous. There are banks that dont charge a fee. Bank with them. There are banks that wont let you overdraft at all. Bank with them. No one is robbing anyone by covering for them when they spend money they dont have. They told you what it costs to do so. You still did it. Thats not remotely similar to ripping people off in any way
You can have the money and still be charged overdraft fees.
Consider multiple accounts under one number, all set up to transfer money between them for free and with no limits. But once you spend from an account without enough funds allocated, then that money transfer will cost money, usually $30-40.
Real life application: When a medical biller uses the wrong card on file they can rack you up some hefty charges before you know it, and the bank usually only forgives one fee, not the eleven extra ones the biller triggered by making separate, itemized charges.
All the bank was doing was moving the money from a savings account with the same number, and then charging a fee for that. And only a bank can charge and collect in one action.
I dismantled the automatic transfer system that had been set up since it was just a fee scam. Now payments just fail if I haven’t allocated the money to the debit account.
But it’s still a scam, even if you consider benevolent credit extensions. Extending this credit is not costing them $30-40 per transaction. Walmart can just write off thefts of under $20, for tangental context.
Decades ago, before we were married, my then-boyfriend would get hit wth an overdraft at least once a month. AFTER we got married, he bounced three checks and I put my foot down (three strikes and you’re out, sweetheart!) and we opened a joint savings account with no ATM cards tied to it. Just having the bank account be mostly in-only and tightening up on the spending - since we had to go to the bank and make a withdrawal if we wanted money for shopping - got through to him once we went a year with no debt and no fees. If we didn’t have the cash on-hand, we went without. 35 years later, it’s second nature to not be spending money… At least 3 days a week we both go without a single purchase of anything. Not even a cup of coffee.
Good on ya!
I used to be like that too. My SO helped me get over that habit. I really wish we were taught the basics of this kinda stuff in school…
Americans used to be taught it…
I had to take Home Economics in 7th grade (this was in 1977-78) and we would learn how to plan meals and cook them, food safety, how to iron a shirt and sew a button back on, how to balance a checkbook and budget monthly household expenses and also there was a smattering of sex ed topics.
I was blase on it at the time, but it did stick and now I wish it was still taught with the emphasis on budgeting and money like it used to be.
I guess that Americans aren’t supposed to know how to avoid debt.
Why do you all still bank with these low lives? I haven’t had an overdraft fee in like 20 years. There are banks all over the place with no minimum balance and no overdraft fees.
I’m a weird case where my bank account is so old it precedes all these fees and minimum balance requirements.
As long as I have a single cent in my account it’s completely free which I suppose you could call a minimum balance requirement but compared to other banks where you need a minimum of like $100-500 it’s pretty nice
