Consumer Blog

Over at the Huffington Post story 29 Overdraft Fees in 27 Days, I act as Dr. Watson in reporter Arthur Delaney's effort to get to the bottom of a Chase Bank conundrum. How did  consumer Mathew Miller pay $1446 in overdraft fees in one month? Chase's contract (See page 4) says that it counts deposits before debits, but Miller's statement reads the opposite way and "appears to contradict that policy."

From the article: But Miller's statement appears to contradict that policy: his deposits are credited before debits only half the time. And as for the difference between overdraft charges and NSF charges, not even the statement can keep them straight -- the end of the document lists all 29 overdraft and NSF penalties as overdraft fees.

Sherlock Holmes once famously said: "Eliminate all other factors, and the one which remains must be the truth." Near as I can figure, the truth here will not set Mathew Miller free; the truth is, Chase is gouging him. Heck, even the American Banker newspaper blog seems to agree with our view that Chase is treating Miller unfairly. Next Tuesday, Chairman Chris Dodd of Senate Banking will hold a hearing on unfair overdraft fees.