Study: Bank Overdraft Pricing Will Drive Consumers to CUs (Misc News: February 3, 2012)
While it was debit card fees that led to Bank Transfer Day, one expert predicts that a jump in bank overdraft pricing will lead to the next big wave of customers moving over to credit unions.
An expert on overdrafts said he thinks credit unions are not doing enough to promote this difference with the big banks.
Moebs $ervices Inc., a financial resource company, has been tracking the rise and fall of overdraft fees for almost three decades. The 2011 survey looked at overdraft fees from more than 2,500 banks and credit unions of all sizes across the country. Researchers found that the median bank overdraft fee rose to $30 in 2011, up by an unprecedented $2.50 since 2010. The credit union median fee remained unchanged at $25.
“In almost 30 years of collecting this data we have never seen an increase as high as $2.50 at one time,” Mike Moebs, CEO and economist for Moebs $ervices, said.
Banks in the survey cited the Dodd-Frank legislation and its overdraft regulations as the reason for the fee hike. Moebs believes credit unions are not doing enough to promote the difference in overdraft fees and are missing a significant opportunity to add new checking business as a result.
“I think credit unions should create Checking Account Efficiency Day this year and advertise to consumers that they are the low-cost provider and this is why they should come over."
The full results of the survey can be found by clicking here.
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Regulatory Affairs
