5/3 Bank (Fifth Third Bank) Charging overdraft fees on pending transactions Cincinnati Ohio

This is the second time in a couple of months that this has happened to me.

I'm being charged overdraft fees on items that are pending, not posted. The explanation given to me by the bank is that when I make a purchase with my debit card, they set those funds aside, even though they haven't yet been posted to my account. So, on any given day, if my available balance (as opposed to my actual account balance) goes negative, I'm assessed an overdraft fee.

Here is the breakdown of the most recent example:

I made a deposit of 701.25 on a Saturday. Of course, the check won't be fully available until Tuesday, because for all intents and purposes, the check was deposited on Monday and takes 1 business day to clear my account. OK. I get that. But they give me 100 dollars to have immediately available out of the check. Great.

So, on Sunday and Monday, figuring that I have 100 dollars of my deposit to work with, I make 5 purchases totaling 83.48. Fine and dandy, right? Wrong.

On Monday night at midnight, an automatic payment for my cell phone bill goes through in the amount of 52.29, putting my available balance at (-35.77), even though the check that I deposited on Saturday also posted at midnight. As a result, I have two overdraft fees in the amount of 37 dollars each added to my account, even though my balance beginning the next day was +607.68.

Because of that 74 dollars in overdraft fees and a 550 dollar check that posted on Tuesday, 4 other smallish items were overdrafted as well. Now I have overdrafts totaling 222 dollars even though without the overdraft fees, my balance would still be positive 15.60.

My actual account balance NEVER went negative, only my "available" balance, and I have documentation of this fact. Yet I'm paying overdraft fees. Is it really legal to charge overdraft fees on PENDING items that have not yet POSTED to your account? I can't see how it would be.

Jve
Cleveland, Ohio
U.S.A.