Overdraft fees feel like a double whammy, because you may find that you don’t have enough money in your account and have to pay an additional fee. Today we’re going to learn how many overdraft fees can be waived at Chase Bank.
These types of fees will appear on your bank statement, and you will usually look for ways to remove them. As of October 2022, Chase Bank charges $34, but these can add up over the long term so it is important to know how they work to avoid unnecessary fees.
What are overdraft fees?
Overdraft fees occur when you do not have enough money in your bank account to complete the transaction. The bank will not normally decline transactions but will cover the amount we have to pay.
This happens when customers do not have overdraft protection. And for this reason, the financial institution may charge a non-sufficient funds fee also known as NSF.
Is an overdraft fee different from an NSF?
This will depend on the financial institution because, in the case of Chase, the two terms are used without differentiating them. However, the concepts are as follows:
- Overdraft: the bank covers the extra amount for the transaction and then charges an overdraft fee.
- NSF: In these cases, the bank rejects the transaction and charges an NSF fee. This occurs with checks or ACH transfers.
However, in Chase’s case, it uses either term to mean that you are using more money than you have in your account. The fee charged for the overdraft is $34, on all overdrafts over $50 in the account.
Each bank may handle its own overdraft fees, and in the case of Chase Bank, overdraft coverage is not guaranteed in all cases.
How does Chase cover overdrafts?
When extra coverage is needed, Chase can provide overdraft coverage in the following ways:
Standard
It is automatically included on all accounts except Chase High School Checking, Chase Secure Checking, and Chase First Checking. On these accounts, overdraft transactions may be paid for a fee. It is at the bank’s discretion whether or not to cover the overdraft depending on your account history.
Overdraft assistance
You can enroll in Chase overdraft assistance for checking accounts except for the three listed above. This protection will not charge for an overdraft of less than $50 at the end of the business day. You can overdraft more as long as it is reduced to less than $50 at the end of the business day.
There will also be no charge for a declined or returned overdraft, or for items under $5.
Chase Overdraft Protection
It is an optional service in which the account can be enrolled, which works with both savings and checking accounts, allowing you to pay any overdraft transaction that occurs in the checking account.
Chase Debit Card Coverage
This is a subscription service, in which Chase will authorize and pay overdrafts for everyday debit card purchases. These purchases include groceries, gas, or dining out. You can turn this coverage on or off, depending on how you want Chase to handle overdrafts.
It should be noted that overdraft protection protects you from overdrawing your account, not from being charged a fee. On the other hand, a good way to avoid being charged these fees is to opt out of overdraft coverage. In these cases, transactions will be declined if you don’t have enough money in the bank.
Limits to Chase overdrafts
Chase will be limited to a maximum of three overdraft fees per business day, which means that the maximum overdraft fee it will charge is $102. However, in the following circumstances, no fee will be charged:
- If an ATM cash withdrawal transaction is declined.
- Transactions are $5 or less.
- When you have an overdraft of $50 or less at the end of the business day or if it is higher, but is brought to $50 or less before the end of the day.
- If a transaction authorization was received when the account still had sufficient available balance.
- A check or ACH is returned unpaid.
Since 2022, Chase has given customers the ability to bring the account balance to $50 or less in overdraft to avoid an overdraft debt with an additional day. The original deadline was until the end of the business day but extended it to the end of the next business day.
How can you get a waiver of Chase overdraft fees?
If you want to get a refund of the Chase non-sufficient funds fee, you must do the following:
Review your account and verify that the transaction is correct.
The overdrawn account should always be reviewed to verify that the transaction took place. This will help identify when and why the charges were received. This will be helpful when calling a representative.
If you see transactions that you have not made, it means that someone has access to the account and has made fraudulent purchases.
Contact a Chase representative
Once the transaction details are confirmed, call 1-800-935-9935 to discuss overdraft fees. You can also go directly to a local branch to see if they can waive the fees.
How many overdraft fees can be eliminated?
Each Chase branch can make its own decision on what fees it can waive. For this reason, you will always need to contact the branch nearest you to find out whether or not these fees can be avoided.
In case you are frequently hit with overdraft fees or other fees, it is best to monitor your bank account more closely. You can set up bank alerts to notify you when the account reaches a minimum balance or is overdrawn.
How can overdraft fees be avoided?
There are several ways to avoid overdraft fees on your Chase account. To do so, it is best to follow these tips:
- Avoid overdrafts of more than $50 or try to bring them down to less than $50 by the next business day.
- Keep complete control of your bank account to know how much money is coming in and going out.
- Always maintain sufficient funds in the bank account so that the bank does not have to assume an overdraft.
- Activate overdraft alerts to be notified when your account is overdrawn.
What happens if the account is not paid when it is overdrawn?
The first thing to know is that overdrafts do not show up on your credit score. However, if they are not paid, this can affect your credit score by having debt with the bank.
When overdraft payments are not made, the bank may close the account and send it to collections. This is standard bank procedure and may cause you to have difficulties in the future when you want to open new checking accounts.
Whenever a bank account goes into collection, it will appear on the credit report as a delinquency and can remain there for seven years. Therefore, it will always be better to pay overdraft fees before this happens, and you will avoid a bad credit score.