Wells Fargo & Company has changed its overdraft practices for Wells Fargo and Wachovia customers. The bank has said that it will eliminate overdraft fees for customers when they overdraw their accounts by $5 or less and will charge no more than four overdraft fees per day.
In addition, Wells Fargo and Wachovia customers will be able to opt out of overdraft coverage, meaning customers can specify that they don’t want their transactions authorised into overdraft if funds aren’t available to cover the transaction. Reportedly, the bank will allow customers to monitor their accounts, using online, email and mobile banking tools that can help them avoid overdraft fees. It also offers ways to link savings, lines of credit or credit card accounts to a customer’s checking account when there are not enough funds to cover a transaction.
In addition, Wells Fargo offers My Spending Report with Budget Watch, a patented, free online money management tool that categorises transactions and enables customers to track their spending by category, so they can identify opportunities to spend more carefully. It also helps customers create a budget in as few as two clicks and monitor their progress throughout the month – delivering the information customers need to stay on budget and gain more control of their finances.
Carrie Tolstedt, senior executive vice president and head of Community Banking, said: “We want to deliver the best banking experience we can and believe these changes, in addition to the tools we already provide, will help our customers minimise overdraft fees. Most of our customers don’t need overdraft coverage in any given month, but for those that do we hope these changes, along with the tools we already provide, will help them minimise overdraft fees. We continue to encourage everyone to manage their accounts and always monitor their balances because these are the best ways to steer clear of overdrafts.”
