Excessive Overdraft Fee Complaints against Pittsburgh-Based PNC Bank
The convenience of electronic banking has proven to be problematic for those who have been subjected to unfair and morally unacceptable calculation and collection of excessive overdraft fees. Pittsburg-based PNC Bank has significantly profited from a system designed to maximize overdraft fee revenue instead of providing customers with a debit transaction refusal or a warning of a fee before they go forward with a purchase. As a consequence, several PNC Bank customers, as well as customers of other major banks, have joined in civil action with other afflicted individuals to obtain restitution, monetary damages, and declaratory relief.
PNC’s automatic overdraft fee operates so that even a small transaction of only a few dollars will lead to a substantial charge. The first three occurrences of a debit transaction when there are insufficient funds results in an overdraft fee of $31. The fourth, fifth, and sixth occurrences lead to a $34 charge, and each additional occurrence results in a $36 fee.
The Consumer Federation of America reports that five of the ten largest banks increased their overdraft fees within the last year without creating a more consumer-friendly way of notifying individuals of their balance. The amount of profit from overdraft fees that banks like PNC have acquired increased from $17 billion in 2007 to between $27 billion and $38.5 billion for 2009.
As consumers throughout the United States affected by these overdraft fees consider filing formal complaints against PNC and other banks, there are several legal matters to take into consideration. Reverse sequencing fee lawyers will continue to investigate potential class action lawsuits against major banks like PNC, Citi, Bank of America, Suntrust, Wachovia, and Sovereign pertaining to insufficient funds/overdraft fees.