Think you have overdraft protection? Maybe not.

Even if you have overdraft protection, you might decide to check your checking account balance more frequently. I know that I wish I had. One of the perks of my credit union is that they don't bill me overdraft fees. Or at least they didn't for fourteen years. Instead, they covered any debits using my savings account and notified me of my blunder. I didn't lean on this heavily, but every few years I'd make a mistake, and then compliment myself on my wise choice to use this credit union.

I've recently been made aware of a change, and not in the manner I would have appreciated. The notice came in the mail, informing me that I had been billed $25.00 of overdraft fees. "HOW?" was all I could think. I'd made a sizable balance transfer to cover some upcoming debits, and besides, my credit union was the best. Or so I'd thought.

Further inspection revealed that the balance transfer, which I'd done using telephone keypad prompts, hadn't transpired. I also realized that I'd received numerous overdraft fees spanning a period of over two weeks prior to being notified. And the last thing I needed was a credit union that was helping itself to my money.

The email I sent to the bank was courteous, explaining that three mistakes had been made on their behalf, and requesting that all fees be waived. Their reply was a generic response from "The Customer Service Team" telling me that they had saved me money despite the fees. So my second email was more direct. "This is unacceptable," I wrote, requesting a manager to review the matter, and reminding them that if my money were to remain in their care, I needed to know that they would uphold their end of our agreements. A manager replied, stating that the fees had been waived, "as a one-time courtesy."

A bank error usually wouldn't warrant a blog post, but what my research revealed, does. Turns out that this tactic is wide-spread. Like everybody else, the banks are getting hard up, and they have started to charge additional fees where they legally can. In the UK, this practice has already been outlawed, however, in the US, we're still addressing the matter. The issue is in Congress at this point: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/20/AR2009092002879.html

This is an indication that we consumers have some power. Our rights have not been presumed dead. But until this issue is resolved - if it ever is resolved - we need to make certain that the banks follow the agreements we have with them. We have two weapons in our arsenals. The first is to escalate a complaint, and the second is to be willing to transfer our funds to a more honest institution. If we all take these steps, the banks will get the point regardless of what Congress does.