1st Convenience Bank First National Bank Texas Excessive Overdraft Fees , Internet

..but if I am not understanding it..please clarify.

What the regulations change did..was a very simple change..

And that was for the banks to NO LONGER automatically enroll, or "force" any checking account customers into overdraft protection with a DEBIT card.

So at one point in time recently, you, BY LAW, were given the OPTION to enroll in this "service", or not.

If you had not CHOSEN to enroll... the "one" transaction that put this account into overdraft (if it was via a debit card POS or ATM), should have been DECLINED, and you would have not been subject to a SINGLE overdraft fee. Now if this overdraft was caused by a bounced check, electronic bill pay (ach), then it does not matter, those types of payments are always subject to fees if the account can not cover it..and YES..I can even agree THAT is what a register is for.

If you signed anything that allows this bank to cover overdrafts with your debit card..you sunk your own boat. Because if this bank is doing like many other have been since around 2002, they are re-sequencing the times/orders of transactions from highest amount to lowest, which subjects you to overdraft fees on transactions that did have the funds available at the time of the transaction.

Why did you sign up? You should have done nothing and then you would not have been subject to these fees. Sure anyone can blame you and your register..but no one has YET to explain...where in the register does it say that the banks can turn ONE legitimate overdraft fee..into many more? It says this nowhere, which is why around 25% of all banks that pulled this scam, are currently in a major class action lawsuit, identical to the lawsuit Wells Fargo recently lost on California. They are court ordered to cut the crap..no more re-sequencing from high to low..and as well to pay back those fees caused by the bank engineered tactics which resulted in the unjust fees.

I don't know anything about US Bank, but if you have overdraft protection what that means is that they paid all the items that hit your account.  So..are you sure that the $419 is in fees and that none of it is actually the item that they paid on your behalf?  I think the new law gives you the right to opt out of the overdraft protection...so if you want to avoid this happening again tell them you want to opt out.  Ofcourse - if you find yourself with a negative balance and you opt out all of the pending items will be rejected.

Also, not to put you down, but to help you:

-There is no reason to ever have 12 pending items - pay your bills and everything on a credit card.  At the end of the month pay the credit card.  Don't write a bunch of checks and don't authorize companies to take money out of your account.  That invites things like this.

-No offence, but you overdrafted your account and had 12 items that had not yet been paid.  Thats more than just making a minor error. Don't do stuff like that.

-I'm not saying what the bank is doing is fair, but it is in your power to prevent it.

-Find a local credit union.  They will still charge you fees if you overdraft your account but most of the time they are a bit nicer about it and won't slam you that bad.  Also, pick a small credit union.  At a small credit union you may be able to talk with someone who actually has the authority to do things like reverse fees.  At big banks the branch managers are basically tellers who make an extra$10/hr or so because they stuck around for a few years, didn't steal anything, and show up most of the time when they are supposed to.  They have very limited authority to do anything.  At a small credit union you may actually be able to speak with someone with real authority rather than some clock puncher.

The reason that banks really stick it to people who do this kind of thing is because many (but not all) people who manage their accounts this way eventually cause the bank a loss.  Also, because if somone is so close to the edge that they are bouncing checks frequently they are probably not going to be approved for a loan - and banks make money by lending.  So, they know that you are likely to cause them a loss someday, that it costs them money to service your account, and that you are unlikely to be able to qualiy for a loan anytime soon - so why do they want a customer like that?  The only reason they have to keep someone like that around is if they can stick it to you every time you overdraft your account.  Otherwise - they want to open up the space you take in line, on their phones, etc for someone they can make money off of.  Sorry, but you probably don't work for free, so why should they?  Keep in mind that if you stiff them they will report you on chexsystems and you may not even be able to get an ATM card for 5 years if that happens.

The only difference between you and me is I make sure not to spend more money than I have.  Try using a check register and a calculator.  That should help.