If you’re someone who is associated with the military, you might be familiar with a USAA bank checking account. While USAA advocates its support for military members and their own families by waiving opening deposit fees and allowing the option to get paid early, the financial institution does not speak about how costly it could be if you should be charged a USAA overdraft fee. USAA does offer an overdraft protection service, but you can find rules. When these aren’t followed, it could still lead to fees charged for your requirements.

How USAA overdraft fees work

For anyone who are not as familiar with overdraft fees, they occur once you don’t have money that is enough your bank account to fund a transaction, along with your bank ultimately ends up covering it for you.

A USAA overdraft fee is now $29 (having just increased from $25 on 8th, 2019) june. They apply to checks as well as other withdrawals from your own account that USAA elects to cover. Overdraft charges can take place if you overdraft by $5 or more and charged per transaction . An overdraft fee for example, if your account has a balance of $1 and you buy an $8 sandwich, you will be charged for that sandwich PLUS. You will be charged another overdraft fee if you buy something else while your balance is negative.

“USAA overdraft fees are now actually $29 each…and are charged per transaction.”

Overdraft fees are known for their potential to mount up quickly. The CFPB unearthed that accounts overdrafts that are enabling three times more likely to have 10+ overdrafts each year , compared to accounts which do not allow overdrafts.

How USAA NSF Fees Work

USAA’s non-sufficient funds fees are also $29 each and apply to checks as well as other withdrawal from your account that USAA returns without paying as a result of funds that are insufficient. There’s a limit of 3 overdraft fees and 3 NSF fees that can be charged within a day at maximum. What this means is you could be charged as much as $174 within a single day for without having enough funds in your bank account to cover your transactions !

A woman with a USAA bank account opened up a lawsuit against USAA in fact, this past February. She claimed they violated their consumer protection statutes when charging her an NSF fee multiple times for a transaction that is single. Additionally, she states USAA’s deposit agreement does not say it will charge NSF that is multiple (for just one charge) and actually claims it does not do that.

Understanding USAA’s overdraft protection service

The bank’s ‘USAA overdraft protection’ is a real way to simply help customers combat overdraft fees. USAA Overdraft Protection allows money to be transferred from a USAA checking, savings or credit card account when you don’t can pay for to cover a check, scheduled bill payment or automatic withdrawal payment.

While there is no fee to enroll in USAA’a Overdraft Protection service, USAA “ may charge you fees for excess transfers from a savings account or interest for cash-advance transfers from your credit card.” Additionally, if a savings are used by you account, there clearly cash net usa loans fees was a limit of six withdrawals and transfers per payment per month cycle. It may result in additional fees if you accidentally pass this limit. These $10 transfer fees can add up. If they occur more than 3 x within a 12-month period, your savings account can be converting into a checking account or closed all together.

Ways to get your overdraft fees waived

You can try calling up a USAA representative if you notice a USAA overdraft fee listed on your statement. It’s important to be polite, but firm. For those who have previously held it’s place in good standing or have banked with them for multiple years, inform them! Make sure to ask questions that are open-ended, “How can you assist me by using these fees?” By asking open-ended questions, it may be much more likely that the USAA representative will offer to refund your fees.