this post was submitted on 17 Jan 2024
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The cost to overdraw a bank account could drop to as little as $3 under a proposal announced by the White House, the latest effort by the Biden administration to combat fees it says pose an unnecessary burden on American consumers, particularly those living paycheck to paycheck.

The change could potentially eliminate billions of dollars in fee revenue for the nation’s biggest banks, which were gearing up for a battle even before Wednesday’s announcement. Exactly how much revenue depends on which version of the new regulation is adopted.

Banks charge a customer an overdraft fee if their bank account balance falls below zero. Overdraft started as a courtesy offered to some customers when paper checks used to take days to clear, but proliferated thanks to the growing popularity of debit cards.

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[–] Trollception 7 points 11 months ago (7 children)

What happens if you have $5 in your account and visit two stores and purchase something for $4 in each store? Not all stores process transactions immediately. Is the store supposed to just accept the loss and the bank doesn't honor the transaction? I think if it's a credit based debit card overdraft has to be a thing in order for this to work.

[–] surewhynotlem 27 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Frankly, yes. The company should just absorb that.

When you accept a credit or debit card, and decide to process the transaction later on, you are incurring a risk. Sometimes that risk will be realized. If you don't like it, don't incur that risk.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 11 months ago

Exactly. They can always just take cash.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago (1 children)

So this will just make sure they put either extra charge on credit cards or disallow it entirely, fucking over everyone, not just those who overdraft

When you accept a credit or debit card, and decide to process the transaction later on, you are incurring a risk. Sometimes that risk will be realized. If you don't like it, don't incur that risk.

Could easily be turned around, "when you get a credit card, you are incurring a risk. Sometimes that risk will be realized. If you don't like it, don't incur that risk." Don't spend more than you have and you won't get a charge.

[–] surewhynotlem 3 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Yes exactly. Either side could incur the risk. The government can set the rules. I prefer when they say the rules to protect people first and companies second.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Should make it so that you can't overdraft by default. That way people aren't accidentally fucked over by fees since you can't overdraft. Give the option to overdraft to those who want to have the option, but then also they are taking the risks.

Penalizing companies accepting cards will needlessly fuck over everyone.

[–] surewhynotlem 2 points 11 months ago

Yup, that would also be a good approach.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Not all stores process transactions immediately.

They can, if they choose to do so. You say not all process transactions immediately, but I don't know of any that process offline card transactions.

Is the store supposed to just accept the loss and the bank doesn't honor the transaction?

If they choose not to process the transaction immediately, yes, pretty much. They can retry the transaction periodically until it goes through, or they can use the payment information they have to identify the buyer and demand payment.

[–] UnderpantsWeevil 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Would be insanely risky to process a day's worth of transactions offline, precisely because of the risk that transactions would bounce. Hell, the whole reason credit cards exist is to defer this risk. Businesses pay 2-3% of the transaction value to avoid this risk.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Not particularly risky. I mean, they did it all the time back in the day, with both cards and checks. You had all the information you needed to send the buyer to collections, and/or make a criminal complaint.

[–] UnderpantsWeevil 0 points 11 months ago

I mean, they did it all the time back in the day, with both cards and checks.

Writing a bounced check is incredibly easy, and a big reason why lots of businesses refused to accept checks even at the height of their popularity.

Same with early credit cards.

[–] UnderpantsWeevil 7 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

What happens if you have $5 in your account and visit two stores and purchase something for $4 in each store?

Then your bank sees the first transaction, does some very rudimentary math, sees the second transaction and says "Not enough in account to complete purchase" and bounces the card.

This already exists for bank cards in the form of a maximum line of credit. If you have a $500 line of credit and you try to purchase two $300 widgets on credit, I guarantee you that the second transaction will fail to go through. But if you have a $500 bank balance and try to do the same thing, you get an Overdraft Fee instead.

[–] Buddahriffic 6 points 11 months ago

When I make a purchase using a debit card, it goes through this machine that accesses the debit network and my bank, on the other end, says "yes, the pin is correct and the chip looks good, and they have enough funds". Similar process for credit cards. Why wouldn't the transaction be processed at that point other than to create the deliberate risk that the person might overspend if you allow them to?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago

Brazil, 20 years ago, I was a student on a shoestring budget. I set my debit card so that I'd get an SMS after any purchase so I'd be on top of things in case shenanigans happened. I go to the small grocer on the corner, slide my card and type my pin. Before I can put my wallet back in my pocket, my phone dings. My bank was telling me where I purchased, when, how much it was, and how much was left in my account.

Are you telling me first world banks can't do this today? Is it Brazil that's so ahead technologically or is it greed preventing the banks from getting such a basic system in place?

[–] Skyketcher 4 points 11 months ago (1 children)

This might be one of the unintended side effects of the law. If you have a low balance account or a 'bad' credit rating. Banks might simply stop offering debit cards that work on credit card stations.

This probably won't happen unless overdraft fees are underwriting the risk of unpaid overdrafts. I'm not sure how many people just cancel or abandon accounts that go negative. I'd guess that it's low but only banks would have the actual numbers.

[–] partial_accumen 5 points 11 months ago

I’m not sure how many people just cancel or abandon accounts that go negative.

in the USA at least the CHEX system largely prevents this. Essentially if you abandon a checking account that is negative, you get put into the CHEX database. When you go to a new bank to open a new account, the new bank looks at CHEX and sees what you did, then won't give you an account until you go back to the first bank to get cleared. Nearly all banks use CHEX or something like it. So unless you're just writing off the option to do retail banking, you won't be able to abandon accounts.