In 1988, as a new product manager at a long-since-merged-away bank, one of the first things I did was send a memo to my superiors pointing out that our overdraft fee of $8 was significantly less than our peers. And that we might want to consider raising ours to the industry standard $10. That little change added a million dollars to our bottom line and wasn’t a half-bad start to my career there. 

So I’ve always understood how difficult it is to resist the temptation to raise OD fees. That said, there was no excuse for the debit-card excesses that led to the opt-in regulations taking effect this summer. No one should have to pay $39 extra for their morning coffee/donut fix.  

So as much as I detest price controls, I’ll have to admit I’ve been looking forward to the industry efforts to turn debit overdrafts into a value-added service instead of the huge negative penalty they had become.

Ultimately, I see small overdrafts being priced more like mini-loans with a combination of withdrawal fees in the same range as foreign-ATM fees ($2 to $4 each) plus an interest rate or nominal daily fee based on the outstanding balance. Then, if I’m at the store and need $40 more for dinner groceries, I can decide to take the loan, pay the extra $5, and go about with my evening plans.

It’s a win-win. I’m happy the bank/credit union gave extended me a little credit in a tight situation, and the bank makes some much-needed fee income, albeit in $3 increments, instead of $39. While the lower prices won’t replace lost fee income dollar for dollar, and underwriting/credit issues must be addressed, customers will be happier and more loyal, employees will feel better about the value delivered, and in the long-term, things can get back to a more normal price/value relationship.

I’ll be chronicling some of the most interesting implementations of value-added OD protection during the rest of the summer. I looked at Truliant Federal Credit Union a few weeks ago (here). Next up, Wells Fargo.