[Pale Rider]

http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/ban...c_study_a1.asp

Overdraft protection programs that save many people from the embarrassment of bouncing a check -- but which often carry heavy charges -- may soon come under regulatory scrutiny. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is considering a study early next year of five overdraft protection programs and the extent to which customers use them.

Bankers and consumer advocates have lined up on opposite sides of the field. Bankers are urging the FDIC to kill, or at least postpone, the study, while consumer advocates are pushing for it to get the green light.

[Qtip]

I hope they do study, I had a problem recently. Went away on a trip and left my kids with debit card, they over drafted the account on 4 occasions. It was not their fault, I wrote a check early on the month and forgot about it, so when it cleared it shorted their allowance. My problem is that I told my bank that i did not want over draft protection. SO if the money is not there then deny the darn transaction.

They did return the 120 bucks they wanted in fees.

[Hedwig]

The reason the banks don't want the study is that they don't want it to come out how much the fees are. Some of the programs require transfers in $100 increments. So if you overdraft $101, your overdraft transfers $200 along with the associated fees.

[Ice_Siren]

I belong to a CU and they have always used the linked transfer account overdraft from my savings until recently. They have stopped doing that because they said it is not safe. They said that if someone were to get my card, they could wipe out my bank accounts. I loved having it just in case, but I'll live.