Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily.

Via Felix Salmon, this chart shows how much overdraft charges cost you.  The bar on the left (labeled POS) is from point-of-sale debit card overdrafts.  Here are the numbers: the average overdraft is $17, it’s paid back in an average of five days, and the average charge is $35.  Result: you’re paying $1.94 for every dollar “borrowed.”  You’d probably need scientific notation to figure out the APR.

But here’s the kicker:

When debit cards first came into common use, they promised the convenience of a credit card without the cost, because debit card users were required to have the funds in their account to cover their purchase or withdraw cash. As recently as 2004, 80 percent of banks still declined ATM and debit card transactions without charging a fee when account holders did not have sufficient funds in their account. But banks now routinely authorize payments or cash withdrawals when customers do not have enough money in their account to cover the transaction, so debit cards end up being very costly for many account holders.

Italics mine.  This is just so you understand how deliberate this strategy is.  The banks could easily decline NSF transactions.  They used to.  But they don’t anymore because the fees from inadvertant overdrafts are so lucrative.  Alternatively, they could charge reasonable fees, since the actual administrative cost of overdrafts is minuscule these days.  But they don’t.

And who pays these fees?  Small account holders with modest incomes, of course.  That’s the modern banking industry for you.

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate