The Federal Reserve Board has changed the rules on overdraft effective July 1, 2010. Customers now have the option to be out of overdraft protection. The change has overruled the automatic enrolment of clients to a bank’s overdraft protection program. Cards outside the overdraft protection will not be rejected anymore.
Most ATMs decline cards with insufficient balance without charging overdraft fees. However, the consumer can opt to agree to an overdraft charge and then the machine will dispense cash.
The change gives option to the consumer whether to discontinue the use of the card to avoid overdraft fees or agree to a hefty fee to meet immediate cash requirements, depending on the need.