Why Are Overdraft Fees Legal?

[Gary and Alla 3,696]

You can't legislate responsibility, but you can certainly legislate against exploitative business practices.

To what end? If I can stop exploitive business practice myself, why would I need Dodd or any other lame politician to do it for me...and why should I wait? I guess in the UK people wait around to be saved from themselves...I DO NOT. Dodds legislation cannot possibly do me any good. I have never paid a bank fee because I am very careful never to overdraw my account.

The only thing his legislation can do for responsible people is to reduce services available to us...no thanks. I do not care what kind of exploitive business practices irresponsible people allow to be inflicted on themselves. I will laugh...al the way to the bank

[mawilson 2,133]

I think it is a huge rip-off that credit card companies are allowed to charge 30% interest. Maybe the preamble needs to be changed from we the people to we the politicians and friends

How about 288% interest?

See below:

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

You can't legislate responsibility, but you can certainly legislate against exploitative business practices.

To what end? If I can stop exploitive business practice myself, why would I need Dodd or any other lame politician to do it for me...and why should I wait? I guess in the UK people wait around to be saved from themselves...I DO NOT. Dodds legislation cannot possibly do me any good. I have never paid a bank fee because I am very careful never to overdraw my account.

The only thing his legislation can do for responsible people is to reduce services available to us...no thanks. I do not care what kind of exploitive business practices irresponsible people allow to be inflicted on themselves. I will laugh...al the way to the bank

Yes consumer law is just silly, isn't it

[Gary and Alla 3,696]

I think it is a huge rip-off that credit card companies are allowed to charge 30% interest. Maybe the preamble needs to be changed from we the people to we the politicians and friends

I AGREE, it is highway robbery! Criminal. And also the reason I NEVER use credit cards, except to rent a car or reseve a hotel room, and even then I pay in cash or by debit card when I turn the car in or check out. A charge never gets applied to my credit card.

ONLY YOU can prevent such travesties. Legislators cannot do it for you.

[Gary and Alla 3,696]

You can't legislate responsibility, but you can certainly legislate against exploitative business practices.

To what end? If I can stop exploitive business practice myself, why would I need Dodd or any other lame politician to do it for me...and why should I wait? I guess in the UK people wait around to be saved from themselves...I DO NOT. Dodds legislation cannot possibly do me any good. I have never paid a bank fee because I am very careful never to overdraw my account.

The only thing his legislation can do for responsible people is to reduce services available to us...no thanks. I do not care what kind of exploitive business practices irresponsible people allow to be inflicted on themselves. I will laugh...al the way to the bank

Yes consumer law is just silly, isn't it

Yes. Glad to see you are coming around. NO ONE can protect yourself and your family better than YOU can. NOW you are getting the picture.

Individual responsibility, individual freedom!

[rsn 135]

I think it is a huge rip-off that credit card companies are allowed to charge 30% interest. Maybe the preamble needs to be changed from we the people to we the politicians and friends

I AGREE, it is highway robbery! Criminal. And also the reason I NEVER use credit cards, except to rent a car or reseve a hotel room, and even then I pay in cash or by debit card when I turn the car in or check out. A charge never gets applied to my credit card.

ONLY YOU can prevent such travesties. Legislators cannot do it for you.

Actually, Gary, one is only charged these high interest rates on credit cards if one fails to pay their bill in full and on time. I've never once been charged interest on my card because I pay the bill on time and in full. In fact, I get money back from my CC company almost every month, and if someone steals my card and charges it up or provides sub-par services, I'm not responsible (according to every credit card I've ever had). The idea of paying for goods or services using a third party that does not have direct access to your bank account is a pretty good idea, I would think. I can't imagine making all my purchases with the debit card that is directly attached to my bank account. And cash? It's 2009!

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

You can't legislate responsibility, but you can certainly legislate against exploitative business practices.

To what end? If I can stop exploitive business practice myself, why would I need Dodd or any other lame politician to do it for me...and why should I wait? I guess in the UK people wait around to be saved from themselves...I DO NOT. Dodds legislation cannot possibly do me any good. I have never paid a bank fee because I am very careful never to overdraw my account.

The only thing his legislation can do for responsible people is to reduce services available to us...no thanks. I do not care what kind of exploitive business practices irresponsible people allow to be inflicted on themselves. I will laugh...al the way to the bank

Yes consumer law is just silly, isn't it

Yes. Glad to see you are coming around. NO ONE can protect yourself and your family better than YOU can. NOW you are getting the picture.

Individual responsibility, individual freedom!

That's only good in as far as you have all the information you need to make informed consumer decisions.

[Gary and Alla 3,696]

You can't legislate responsibility, but you can certainly legislate against exploitative business practices.

To what end? If I can stop exploitive business practice myself, why would I need Dodd or any other lame politician to do it for me...and why should I wait? I guess in the UK people wait around to be saved from themselves...I DO NOT. Dodds legislation cannot possibly do me any good. I have never paid a bank fee because I am very careful never to overdraw my account.

The only thing his legislation can do for responsible people is to reduce services available to us...no thanks. I do not care what kind of exploitive business practices irresponsible people allow to be inflicted on themselves. I will laugh...al the way to the bank

Yes consumer law is just silly, isn't it

Exactly

People looking to the government to protect them from themselves really need to do more to demand their right to be stupid. You shouldn't let that slip away by having it legislated out of existance

Edited September 24, 2009 by Gary and Alla

[mawilson 2,133]

I AGREE, it is highway robbery! Criminal. And also the reason I NEVER use credit cards, except to rent a car or reseve a hotel room, and even then I pay in cash or by debit card when I turn the car in or check out. A charge never gets applied to my credit card.

Credit cards are useful though...

1) You get rewards (cash back / points / air miles etc)

2) When you rent a car, it's automatically insured (CDW)

If you pay off your balance in full, what's the difference?

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

You can't legislate responsibility, but you can certainly legislate against exploitative business practices.

To what end? If I can stop exploitive business practice myself, why would I need Dodd or any other lame politician to do it for me...and why should I wait? I guess in the UK people wait around to be saved from themselves...I DO NOT. Dodds legislation cannot possibly do me any good. I have never paid a bank fee because I am very careful never to overdraw my account.

The only thing his legislation can do for responsible people is to reduce services available to us...no thanks. I do not care what kind of exploitive business practices irresponsible people allow to be inflicted on themselves. I will laugh...al the way to the bank

Yes consumer law is just silly, isn't it

Exactly

People looking to the government to protect them from themselves really need to do more to demand their right to be stupid. You shouldn't let that slip away by having it legislated out of existance

I bet you think workplace health & safety law is a waste of time as well.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

The thing is - banking didn't use to be this way. It was through deregulation that allowed banks to start charging fees for everything under the sun.

That's silly. Back in the "good old days" (1970s?), banks didn't charge ATM or credit card fees

because ATMs and credit cards didn't exist. There were no overdraft fees because folks used

to go to a bank branch to get their cash.

I've been using debit cards since the mid 80's. You could use your debit back then as a credit card if it was a Visa or MasterCard debit card. Back then, the banks were not charging the kinds of fees and amounts they are charging now.

[Gary and Alla 3,696]

You can't legislate responsibility, but you can certainly legislate against exploitative business practices.

To what end? If I can stop exploitive business practice myself, why would I need Dodd or any other lame politician to do it for me...and why should I wait? I guess in the UK people wait around to be saved from themselves...I DO NOT. Dodds legislation cannot possibly do me any good. I have never paid a bank fee because I am very careful never to overdraw my account.

The only thing his legislation can do for responsible people is to reduce services available to us...no thanks. I do not care what kind of exploitive business practices irresponsible people allow to be inflicted on themselves. I will laugh...al the way to the bank

Yes consumer law is just silly, isn't it

Yes. Glad to see you are coming around. NO ONE can protect yourself and your family better than YOU can. NOW you are getting the picture.

Individual responsibility, individual freedom!

That's only good in as far as you have all the information you need to make informed consumer decisions.

Exactly. and what do you (or I) have aginst informed consumers? Dodd's law will actually contribute to MORE stupid consumers. One less thing to worry about, eh?

Part of being responsible is getting information to make decisions and not making decisions without it! Every bank must already disclose their fees. I READ that piece of paper and did not find out the stupid (and expensive) way. Silly me. If you make decisions without information, it is STUPID. You have a RIGHT to be STUPID...I suggest you continue defending it, you are pretty good at it. It is one of our most precious rights. It means people that are NOT stupid have access to great benefits like ATMS, debit cards, free online banking and bill pay. I do not wish to lose those FREE benefits because STUPID people do not defend (and PAY FOR) their right to be stupid!

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

You can't legislate responsibility, but you can certainly legislate against exploitative business practices.

To what end? If I can stop exploitive business practice myself, why would I need Dodd or any other lame politician to do it for me...and why should I wait? I guess in the UK people wait around to be saved from themselves...I DO NOT. Dodds legislation cannot possibly do me any good. I have never paid a bank fee because I am very careful never to overdraw my account.

The only thing his legislation can do for responsible people is to reduce services available to us...no thanks. I do not care what kind of exploitive business practices irresponsible people allow to be inflicted on themselves. I will laugh...al the way to the bank

Yes consumer law is just silly, isn't it

Yes. Glad to see you are coming around. NO ONE can protect yourself and your family better than YOU can. NOW you are getting the picture.

Individual responsibility, individual freedom!

That's only good in as far as you have all the information you need to make informed consumer decisions.

Exactly. and what do you (or I) have aginst informed consumers? Dodd's law will actually contribute to MORE stupid consumers. One less thing to worry about, eh?

Part of being responsible is getting information to make decisions and not making decisions without it! Every bank must already disclose their fees. I READ that piece of paper and did not find out the stupid (and expensive) way. Silly me. If you make decisions without information, it is STUPID. You have a RIGHT to be STUPID...I suggest you continue defending it, you are pretty good at it. It is one of our most precious rights. It means people that are NOT stupid have access to great benefits like ATMS, debit cards, free online banking and bill pay. I do not wish to lose those FREE benefits because STUPID people do not defend (and PAY FOR) their right to be stupid!

To which I say ONCE AGAIN - give people all the information they need to make INFORMED decisions. And do it without hiding the ####### in 10,000 words of fine print that you need a law degree in order to decipher.

Edited September 24, 2009 by Gene Hunt

[mawilson 2,133]

To which I say ONCE AGAIN - give people all the information they need to make INFORMED decisions. And do it without hiding the ####### in 10,000 words of fine print that you need a law degree in order to decipher.

Agreed. Tell them - in plain, simple, and direct language - that their APR is going to be 288%.

If they still want to go for it, well.......

[Gary and Alla 3,696]

The thing is - banking didn't use to be this way. It was through deregulation that allowed banks to start charging fees for everything under the sun.

That's silly. Back in the "good old days" (1970s?), banks didn't charge ATM or credit card fees

because ATMs and credit cards didn't exist. There were no overdraft fees because folks used

to go to a bank branch to get their cash.

I've been using debit cards since the mid 80's. You could use your debit back then as a credit card if it was a Visa or MasterCard debit card. Back then, the banks were not charging the kinds of fees and amounts they are charging now.

the question was about 70s...not the 80s.

Yes and I remember monthly fees unless you kept a minimum of like $500 balance, "per check" fees, having to write checks, buy postage stamps and sending them several days before the bill was due, and YES overdraft fees, even in the old days. I remember having to wait until the monthly statement came to balance my checkbook. I do it every day now. I check the account between 2-3 pm when the business closes for the day. If my wife has gone crazy with her debit card somewhere I just transfer funds. If I didn't have funds to transfer, there would be NO going crazy with a debit card. I know my balance at this moment in the bank. I remember having to go to the bank to transfer funds, now I can do it with 3 mouseclicks. There is absolutely no reason (other than stupidity) for an account to be overdrawn in this day and age.

Now we have online banking, I haven't used 200 checks in the last 6 years! No check fees, no minimum balance, bill pay online the day it is due, no postage stamps, no monthly fees (my bank calls it "FREE checking for Life")

The banks have shifted the fees charged from the responsible people to the irresponsible people (thanks to de-regulation) and I like that THEY pay the fees for ME and it results in more services, FREE for me. Ah, yes, the rewards of being responsible! But, hey, you are doing a good job to defend our right to be Stupid. I realize I haven't done my part lately.