Bank fees, a Savannah woman says “give me a break”

Jacqueline Lennon is hot under the collar.  “I can see being charged for your mistake, that’s fine, but this is just excessive.“

Lennon says her 20 year old son overdrew his account recently and was charged $140 for a mistake she says originally put him one dollar in the hole.  “Then there was a charge for five dollars, six dollars, stuff like that, really small amounts,“ says Lennon.  The account received debits of $35 each for overdraft charges, something Lennon doesn’t like, but says hey, okay, he owes that.

It was a new charge that Lennon had never heard of that got her attention and prompted her anger.  It was an extra $35 fee called an “extended overdrawn charge.“ 

Lennon found out from the bank it was because her son had not made a deposit within four days.  “So he’s already overdrawn, already paying those charges and now the account is slapped with this other charge,“ she says.  “I just don’t think this is a fair charge.“

Lennon says her son was laid off a few months ago from JCB and has been attending Savannah Tech. Because of that, his account is tied to hers in a program Campus Edge.  It basically allows the parents to be responsible for the student’s overcharges.  So Lennon has been trying to clear up the hole her son’s account is.

She still thinks the overdrafts and the charge for being overdrawn, are too high.  Lennon isn’t alone.  Last week, three major banks, including Bank of America, announced they would stop charging so many overdraft charges in one day’s time.  Bank of America says its changes go into effect October 19 , and include limiting the number of overdrafts per day to 4 ($140) versus 10 ($350).

I contacted a representative from Bank of America to find out if the extended overdraft charge will be changed or eliminated as a result of the new policy.  The spokesperson, Christina Beyer asked me to email questions.  I asked about the extended overdraft charge and if it would be eliminated or modifided as part of this new policy.  I also asked a number of other questions.  As of newstime Friday when this story aired, I had not received an email response.

Beyer did send me this information earlier on Friday, indicating it was the rationale for the new policy from Bank of America.

** Customers want clarity, simplicity, and choice in every service we offer. We are responding with several changes to our checking account options and services that will help customers avoid excessive overdraft fees and better manage their finances. 

** Our customers’ needs are changing and we’re changing with them.  We want to help them better manage their debit activity and checking accounts.

** Our immediate priority are those customers who excessively overdraw their account. We will build on this over time to extend additional clarity and choice to every service we offer.

** We recognize that many of our customers are experiencing challenges in the current economy and we are committed to finding even more ways to help them manage their finances.

** We have a long history of helping our customers, including financial education and account management tools to help prevent fees ,including online banking, alerts and mobile banking. In addition, we help millions of customers each year through Customer Assistance and fee refunds.

In the case of Jacqueline Lennon, her son had first overdrawn his account in June.  A $35 overdraft fee was taken off at that time along with a $35 extended overdraft fee.  Lennon believes her son should pay for his mistakes, but she was floored to see the extended overdraft fee when they got the second statement.  “The amount of money he overdrew the second time amounted to $10.25 and he’s paying $140 for that, which includes the $35 fee for not making a deposit soon enough.  I just think this is wrong.“

Lennon told me she had encouraged her sons to open bank accounts to learn responsiblity.  “We’re a Bank of America family,“ she says.  “But I’m not sure if we’ll stay that way now.“