Banks That Have Cut Or Eliminated Overdraft Fees Bankrate Caret RightMain Menu Mortgage Mortgages Financing a home purchase Refinancing your existing loan Finding the right lender Additional Resources Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Bank Banking Compare Accounts Use calculators Get advice Bank reviews Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Credit Card Credit cards Compare by category Compare by credit needed Compare by issuer Get advice Looking for the perfect credit card? Narrow your search with CardMatch Caret RightMain Menu Loan Loans Personal Loans Student Loans Auto Loans Loan calculators Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Invest Investing Best of Brokerages and robo-advisors Learn the basics Additional resources Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Home Equity Home equity Get the best rates Lender reviews Use calculators Knowledge base Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Loan Home Improvement Real estate Selling a home Buying a home Finding the right agent Additional resources Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Insurance Insurance Car insurance Homeowners insurance Other insurance Company reviews Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Retirement Retirement Retirement plans & accounts Learn the basics Retirement calculators Additional resources Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Advertiser Disclosure
Advertiser Disclosure
We are an independent, advertising-supported comparison service. Our goal is to help you make smarter financial decisions by providing you with interactive tools and financial calculators, publishing original and objective content, by enabling you to conduct research and compare information for free - so that you can make financial decisions with confidence.
Bankrate has partnerships with issuers including, but not limited to, American Express, Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Citi and Discover. How We Make Money
The offers that appear on this site are from companies that compensate us. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site, including, for example, the order in which they may appear within the listing categories. But this compensation does not influence the information we publish, or the reviews that you see on this site. We do not include the universe of companies or financial offers that may be available to you. SHARE: On This Page
Bill Tompkins/Getty Images August 11, 2022 Karen Bennett is a consumer banking reporter at Bankrate. She uses her finance writing background to help readers learn more about savings and checking accounts, CDs, and other financial matters. David Schepp is a wealth editor for Bankrate, focusing on deposits and consumer banking content. Bankrate logo The Bankrate promise
At Bankrate we strive to help you make smarter financial decisions. While we adhere to strict editorial integrity, this post may contain references to products from our partners. Here's an explanation for how we make money. Bankrate logo The Bankrate promise
Founded in 1976, Bankrate has a long track record of helping people make smart financial choices. We’ve maintained this reputation for over four decades by demystifying the financial decision-making process and giving people confidence in which actions to take next. Bankrate follows a strict , so you can trust that we’re putting your interests first. All of our content is authored by and edited by , who ensure everything we publish is objective, accurate and trustworthy. Our banking reporters and editors focus on the points consumers care about most — the best banks, latest rates, different types of accounts, money-saving tips and more — so you can feel confident as you’re managing your money. Bankrate logo Editorial integrity
Bankrate follows a strict , so you can trust that we’re putting your interests first. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions. Here is a list of our . Key Principles
We value your trust. Our mission is to provide readers with accurate and unbiased information, and we have editorial standards in place to ensure that happens. Our editors and reporters thoroughly fact-check editorial content to ensure the information you’re reading is accurate. We maintain a firewall between our advertisers and our editorial team. Our editorial team does not receive direct compensation from our advertisers. Editorial Independence
Bankrate’s editorial team writes on behalf of YOU – the reader. Our goal is to give you the best advice to help you make smart personal finance decisions. We follow strict guidelines to ensure that our editorial content is not influenced by advertisers. Our editorial team receives no direct compensation from advertisers, and our content is thoroughly fact-checked to ensure accuracy. So, whether you’re reading an article or a review, you can trust that you’re getting credible and dependable information. Bankrate logo How we make money
You have money questions. Bankrate has answers. Our experts have been helping you master your money for over four decades. We continually strive to provide consumers with the expert advice and tools needed to succeed throughout life’s financial journey. Bankrate follows a strict , so you can trust that our content is honest and accurate. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions. The content created by our editorial staff is objective, factual, and not influenced by our advertisers. We’re transparent about how we are able to bring quality content, competitive rates, and useful tools to you by explaining how we make money. Bankrate.com is an independent, advertising-supported publisher and comparison service. We are compensated in exchange for placement of sponsored products and, services, or by you clicking on certain links posted on our site. Therefore, this compensation may impact how, where and in what order products appear within listing categories. Other factors, such as our own proprietary website rules and whether a product is offered in your area or at your self-selected credit score range can also impact how and where products appear on this site. While we strive to provide a wide range offers, Bankrate does not include information about every financial or credit product or service. are becoming less of a headache for many bank customers, as more and more banks move to reduce or eliminate such fees. The trend comes at a time of increased pressure from federal regulators and consumer advocates to curb overdraft fees, which recently averaged more than $33 each instance, according to a 2021 . One bank that was ahead of the curve was Discover, which has a history of not charging overdraft fees — and which eliminated insufficient funds fees for all of its bank accounts in 2019. More recently, various big banks, online banks and credit unions have announced plans to lower overdraft fees or cut them entirely. Alliant Credit Union
stopped charging overdraft and NSF fees in 2021. Members can opt in to its Courtesy Pay program, which may cover transactions that would otherwise not have cleared due to insufficient funds. Members must have made deposits into the account of at least $600 within the past 30 days to qualify for the program, in addition to meeting other requirements. Ally Bank
eliminated overdraft fees during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The online bank subsequently made the change permanent. In cases when a transaction is made that overdraws an account, the bank may cover the overdraft up to $250 — at the bank’s discretion — or decline the transaction. No fee is charged in either scenario. Bank of America
In January 2022, — the nation’s second largest bank by assets — said customers would no longer be charged nonsufficient funds (NSF) fees, beginning in February. Starting in May, Bank of America said it would reduce overdraft fees to $10 from $35 and eliminate the $12 overdraft protection transfer fee through the bank’s Balance Connect linked accounts program. BMO Harris
Capital One
Capital One said in December 2021 that it would stop charging overdraft fees, which ended an annual revenue stream of an . Those enrolled in Capital One’s overdraft services were automatically converted to a no-fee overdraft option. Customers can also choose alternative options, such as having transactions declined that would result in overdrafts or having funds transferred from a linked account when an overdraft would otherwise occur. In August 2021, the bank also eliminated NSF fees and limited overdraft fees to one a day. Citibank
the nation’s eliminated associated with overdrafts, overdraft protection, nonsufficient funds and returned items. Citizens Bank
implemented an overdraft fee grace period in October 2021, which allows customers with an overdrawn account to avoid overdraft fees if the account is brought back to a positive balance by the end of the next business day. When the grace period was implemented, the bank also announced plans to roll out a no-overdraft-fee checking account in 2022. KeyBank
KeyBank said in April 2022 that by year-end it plans to reduce its overdraft fee to $20 for each occurrence and cap the number of overdraft charges at three each day. KeyBank also said it plans to: Drop overdraft fees when accounts are overdrawn by less than $20 Eliminate NSF fees Provide free overdraft protection for linked accounts PNC Bank
Regions Bank
In January 2022, Regions Bank said that in coming months it would eliminate NSF fees and cap overdraft fees at three a day. It also announced plans to no longer charge an overdraft protection fee when funds are automatically transferred between linked accounts to cover overdrafts. Santander Bank
increased its no-fee overdraft threshold to $100 in November 2021, so that accounts overdrawn by less than that amount won’t incur fees. The bank made additional changes to its overdraft fee structure, including reducing the number of $35 fees that could be charged each day for covered overdrafts and returned items and eliminating its $12 overdraft protection fee, which had been charged when funds were moved automatically between accounts to avoid overdrafts. Truist Bank
In January 2022, announced plans to introduce two overdraft-free personal checking accounts in the summer, including the Truist One account, which also provides qualifying customers with a $100 negative balance buffer and a deposit-based line of credit of up to $750. The bank also said that in coming months it would do away with fees for returned items, negative account balances and overdraft protection transfers for all existing personal accounts. U S Bank
U S Bank stopped charging nonsufficient funds fees in January 2022, detailing the change in its fourth-quarter earnings release. It also said that by June 30, it would increase the amount an account could be overdrawn without incurring a fee to $50 from $5. Once an account reaches a negative balance of more than $50, customers have a full day to deposit funds to avoid a fee. Wells Fargo
said in January 2022 that it would eliminate NSF and overdraft protection fees, and that later in the year begin providing customers a 24-hour grace period to cover overdrafts before incurring a fee. The bank’s overdraft fee is $35 an item for consumer accounts, with no more than three such fees to be incurred each business day. Wells Fargo earned $1 billion in from January through September 2021, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). What banks earn in overdraft fees
Though many banks have eliminated or reduced overdraft fees since 2019, in that year banks collectively charged in overdraft and NSF fees, according to the CFPB. More recently, various big banks received in revenue from such fees during a nine-month period in 2021. The CFPB would consider “a range of regulatory interventions … rather than allowing large institutions to ,” the agency said in a December 2021 statement. The CFPB as those that are “excessive,” and examples include overdraft fees, return fees, late penalties and out-of-network ATM fees. Mergers have decreased competition among banks, giving them less incentive to lower their fees, according to Elyse Hicks, consumer policy analyst at Americans for Financial Reform, a nonprofit advocacy organization. “I can say with certainty, unless supervision and enforcement from the CFPB coupled with legislation to not only end overdraft fees, but create a level playing field for those living on the margins exist, banks will only rebrand overdraft fees as other junk fees and the cycle will begin again,” Hicks said in an email. Pending legislation
Introduced by Rep. Carolyn Maloney, a Democrat from New York, the highlights CFPB research and seeks to limit the dollar amount banks can charge per overdraft fee and the frequency with which the fees can be charged. Specifically, the pending legislation would require that the amount charged for an overdraft be “reasonable and proportional” to the amount of the overdraft and the cost of processing it. It also would limit the number of overdraft fees an account could be charged to one a month and six a year. “Overdraft fees are predatory and hit hardest those who can least afford them — cash-strapped hard-working Americans and college students who are struggling to pay their bills, keep a roof over their heads and food on the table,” Maloney said in an email. “It’s not right for a $10 sandwich at a bodega to cost nearly $50 because of a $35 overdraft charge — my Overdraft Protection Act stops this.” Critics of the bill have argued that consumers who overdraw an account are hurt more by having transactions declined than by overdrafting and paying the resulting fee. Speaking before a , Todd Zywicki, law professor at George Mason University, said he questioned whether regulatory intervention might ultimately harm consumers, especially those who are more vulnerable. If a law were in place to eliminate or curb overdraft fees, those who overdraw their accounts “will have many more bounced checks, declined payments, and will likely end up having to rely more on payday lenders and other alternative financial providers,” Zywicki told Bankrate. What cutting overdraft fees means for you
Some banks that have eliminated overdraft fees now simply decline any transaction that otherwise would have overdrawn your account. If you’d rather avoid having a transaction declined, an alternative may be to set up . This service can allow funds to be transferred automatically from your savings account to your checking to keep it from being overdrawn. If your bank currently charges overdraft fees and you want to avoid them, it’s easy to find another bank that doesn’t charge them, thanks to the growing list of institutions that have eliminated such fees. Other factors consumers commonly consider when shopping for a new bank include and whether a is offered. Various banks — such as and Chime — also offer perks like access to your direct deposit up to two days earlier than many traditional banks. Bottom line
Overdraft policies vary among banks, whether they charge a fee for overdrafts, decline overdrafts and charge no fee or allow a grace period for funds to be added to an account before charging a fee. It can pay to shop around for a bank with a policy that best meets your needs, as well as to take advantage of tools like low-balance alerts to help avoid overdrawing your account. SHARE: Karen Bennett is a consumer banking reporter at Bankrate. She uses her finance writing background to help readers learn more about savings and checking accounts, CDs, and other financial matters. David Schepp is a wealth editor for Bankrate, focusing on deposits and consumer banking content. Related Articles