Great Western Bank Settles Overdraft Fee Claims for $2.2M

Great Western Bank agreed to pay $2.2 million to settle an overdraft fee lawsuit that claimed it reordered its customers’ debit charges in order to collect more overdraft fee revenue.

The plaintiffs claimed that the bank posted debit transactions to customer accounts in a high-to-low order, causing the bank to gain more overdraft fee revenue, according to Law360 (subscription required).

Under the settlement, Great Western Bank agreed to alter its policies for debit card transaction policies for at least two years and limit the number of overdraft fees it can charge a customer’s account in a single day and refrain from charging the fees unless the account has a negative balance of more than $10, according to Law360.

This bank is one of over 30 financial institutions—including Citizens Bank, Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase—that are involved in a massive multidistrict litigation regarding unfair overdraft fee policies.

If you think you were a victim of unfair overdraft fee policies, contact Sokolove Law for a free legal consultation and to find out if a consumer fraud lawyer may be able to help you.

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