Debit card overdrafts.

[carol b]

There is some good news about debit card overdraft fees. According to a report in Consumer Reports magazine.

A new Federal law makes banks ask customers for permission before taking fees on overdrafts on debit and ATM cards.

The customers will have to opt into overdraft protection. This is normallly an option on a checking account.

There are ways to protect yourself until the new rules kick in.

First link your checking account to a savings account. This way the money you are short can be added from the savings account.

Budget better and keep track of what you have and what you spend. If you have more than one person on an account make sure that you share necessary information so that you don't run into problems.

[beaston]

Originally Posted by carol b

First link your checking account to a savings account. This way the money you are short can be added from the savings account.

Be sure to check with your bank to see if you have to do anything special for this to happen...

I have it setup this way, but in order to do it, I had to ask my bank to link my checking and savings account together so money could be automatically transferred from one account to the other in case of an overdraft.