Yeah good on the Biden administration doing this. Of all countries I've stayed only in America do customers have no choice but get charged by banks for insufficient funds on a debit card, be it resulting in an overdraft or decline of transactions. It's a ripoff. In Australia one could easily opt out so that insufficient funds result in a declined transaction without any penalty.

> Tired of overdraft fees? A new Biden administration rule would cap them.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2024/12/12/biden-administration-cap-bank-overdraft-fees/76929731007/

QUOTE

Bank overdraft fees, pricey penalties charged to customers who overdraw their accounts, face a $5 cap under new rules released by federal regulators.

The cap on bank overdrafts continues a campaign against “junk fees” in the waning days of the Biden administration, targeting everything from credit card late fees to hidden charges on concert tickets.

Banks that don’t want to cap their overdraft fees have two other options, according to a final rule released by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Thursday.

They can charge a fee equal to what it actually costs them to cover overdrafts. Or, they can treat an overdraft as a loan, giving customers a choice on whether to open a line of “overdraft credit.”

The rule applies to banks with more than $10 billion in assets. It takes effect in October 2025, assuming it survives any legal challenge from the banking industry.