B of A to pay $410 million to settle overdraft lawsuit

[The Straight Story]

B of A to pay $410 million to settle overdraft lawsuit

Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) has agreed to pay $410 million to settle lawsuits accusing it of charging customers with excessive overdraft fees, court documents show.

The largest U.S. bank by assets is among the more than two dozen U.S., Canadian and European lenders named as defendants in the class-action litigation, which in 2009 consolidated lawsuits filed across the country.

JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N), Citigroup Inc (C.N) and Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N) are among the other defendants named in the case, court records show.

Bank of America spokeswoman Anne Pace in an email said the bank has already changed its overdraft practices, eliminating fees for debit transactions and significantly lowering fees for customers who overdraw excessively.

She also said the Charlotte, North Carolina-based lender has "fully accrued funds" to cover the settlement.

...

Overdraft fees industry wide totaled about $23.7 billion in 2008, up from $10.3 billion just four years earlier, according to the Center for Responsible Lending.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/05/us-bankofamerica-overdraft-settlement-idUSTRE71423420110205?WT.tsrc=Social%20Media&WT.z_smid=twtr-reuters_%20com&WT.z_smid_dest=Twitter

[Iggo]

1. Chump change.

410 milion vs 23.7 billion?

They're getting off way too easy.

[The Straight Story]

2. Well, to be fair, that 23.7 billion was not all for BofA

But still, they made out on it and the money they pocketed before they probably got interest from while the people who had bounced checks were in the hole trying to buy food...