Tag Archives: overdraft

By James Kwak

I saw a bank ad in the subway yesterday. Basically, it said:

1. If you set up direct deposit the bank will give you $100.
2. If you set up overdraft protection the bank will give you $25.
3. If you activate online bill pay the bank will give you $25.

1 makes sense because (a) it gives the bank more cheap deposits, which are its raw material and (b) it increases your switching costs. 3 makes sense because it increases your switching costs; it may also cause you to give the bank more cheap deposits, since you need money in the account to cover your bills.

2 makes sense because . . . the bank expects to get more than $25 in fees out of the average customer. A single overdraft fee typically costs more than $25. Now people will be making an explicit decision: “I want the $25 now because I don’t think I’ll ever pay an overdraft fee.” (To be fair, they might be thinking, “I already value overdraft protection at $35 per occurrence, so the $25 is just a bonus.” But I doubt many people think overdraft protection is worth $35 per transaction when the typical transaction is a lot less than $35.

There’s nothing illegal about this, and arguably it’s a smart business decision. It just makes things perfectly clear: the banks want those fees so much they are willing to pay you for them.

By James Kwak

Here’s a letter submitted by a reader, originally from Chase, encouraging her to keep overdraft protection on her checking account.

Continue reading →