Cheapskate Wisdom from … Barney Frank

By Brad Tuttle | @bradrtuttle | November 2, 2009 | +

“Don’t do people favors without asking them.”

Frank, quoted in a Washington Post story, is addressing debit card overdraft protection, which most banks include automatically on customer accounts. With such “protection,” customers are charged fees of around $35 each time they use their debit cards when they don’t have sufficient funds.

Frank recommends that it be mandatory such programs be “opt-in,” rather than allow banks to automatically include them on customer accounts.

New Debit Card Overdraft Law Would Change the Game Entirely

80% of Debit Card Holders Don’t Want “Protection”

So Banks Really Want to Help Customers? Here’s What They Should Do

Related Topics: banks, Barney Frank, cheapskate wisdom, debit cards, overdraft, Borrowing, Credit Cards

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[...] of this summer, the decision will be yours. The banks are no longer going to be allowed to dish out "favors" without asking customers first. In a lot of ways, the decision has always been yours. But, human nature being what it is, inertia [...]
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[...] automatically signed up customers with overdraft protection without every asking anyone. And as Barney Frank put it, banks shouldn't be doing people such "favors" without asking them. So the significant change is [...]
http://auroralive.wordpress.com/2010/05/19/new-debit-card-credit-card-laws-will-save-consumers-5-billion-this-year/ New Debit Card, Credit Card Laws Will Save Consumers $5 Billion This Year « Aurora LIVE

[...] automatically signed up customers with overdraft protection without every asking anyone. And as Barney Frank put it, banks shouldn’t be doing people such “favors” without asking them. So the [...]