PROVIDENCE – Citizens Bank hits its customers with the highest overdraft fee charged by any of the nation’s 15 largest banks, a new study has found.
Providence-based Citizens charges its customers $39 when they overdraw their accounts three or more times in a year. That is more than any other major U.S. bank, according to figures compiled by the Consumer Federation of America, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit.
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Citizens, the largest bank in Rhode Island by deposits, is owned by Citizens Financial Group Inc., a subsidiary of Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc.
Twelve of the 15 banks, including Citizens, charge at least $25 when a customer overdrafts his account for the first time. Bank of America Corp., Rhode Island’s second-largest bank, charges $35 for an initial overdraft. U.S. Bancorp of Minneapolis charged the least initially at $19.
In addition to the initial overdraft fees, some banks, including Citizens and Bank of America, charge additional fees if a customer does not pay both the amount overdrawn and the overdraft fee within a few days.
A customer who overdraws his account by $10 once would owe Citizens a total of $109 in fees after 10 days if he has not paid the initial amount and fees back. That was more than any other major bank charges in the same situation. A Bank of America customer would owe $70.
In a survey last month, 65 percent of 1,015 consumers said overdraft fees should be linked to the cost of providing the service, and 86 percent said banks should be required to tell customers when an ATM withdrawal will leave their account overdrawn. The poll was conducted by Opinion Research Corp. for the Consumer Federation.
New Federal Reserve rules that take effect July 1 will bar banks from charging an overdraft fee for a debit card purchase or ATM withdrawal unless the customer has signed up for the service in advance.
