I deposited my paycheck in a US Bank ATM on the weekend. It was not processed until Monday night, then available Tuesday. Meanwhile, Monday afternoon I made six purchases with my Visa ATM card. Tuesday I withdrew money via an ATM and discovered I was overdrawn. Shocked, I went into the Reno Branch to find out what had happened.
It was then that I discovered US Bank does all of its processing of weekend ATM deposits on Monday night and that I had accrued six overdraft fees of $35.00 each for a total of $210.00.
The local US Bank employee called my branch in Hillsboro, Oregon to request reversal of the fees. They were "kind" enough to reverse half of them. I was told that to reverse the overdraft fees cuts into the branches earnings and that each branch is free to choose its policy on handling overdraft fees. So, I could have been unfortunate enough to get none of them reversed.
This is, of course, my fault for not knowing the internal processes of US Bank and how it handles deposits. If I had deposited the check on Monday, with a teller, I might have been awarded the amount of my paycheck on the spot and accrued no overdraft fees.
On the other hand, and depending upon the policies of the particular branch with which I made the deposit, the funds may not have been available until Tuesday. Of course, in this case, I would have known this (maybe) and waited until Tuesday to make purchases.
How much money has this "business practice" of processing weekend deposits on Monday evening cost customers of US Bank? How is the consumer to know what the reversal policies (or others) are since they differ from branch to branch, at the whim of the local manager?
Viola
Sparks, Nevada
U.S.A.
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