Consumer complaint received 2015-06-29
Company: REGIONS FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: FL
Product: Bank account or service
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Account opening, closing, or management

Complaint:
I am writing to inform you of predatory lending practice of Regions bank of {$35.00} per transaction that this bank has charged which now has my account in the negative {$310.00}, and to notify you that I have not wanted transactions to process with funds availability. The bank has furthermore not responded about erroneous charges as I emailed the CEO of regions bank, XXXX XXXX at XXXXXXXXXXXX on XXXX XXXX @ XXXX XXXX as time stamped on the email and have not heard back from Regions bank. I understand that banks control currency and therefore think we are their slaves for products such as ( XXXX ) but we are not and as a XXXX I am offended under the United States Constitution that gauranteed my right to freedom of religion, and this must stop or I will need to seek legal civil litigation. 

The average overdraft fee is about {$30.00} per incident. In addition, many banks charge extended overdraft fees. At Regions it can cost {$210.00} to borrow {$6.00} for six days as a result of the {$35.00} extended overdraft fee. Even worse, nearly 50 % of banks in the country will re-order transactions to increase the number and amount of overdraft fees charged. Rather than debiting money from your checking account in the order that the debits occurred, banks often debit your account in the order that they wished the transactions would have occurred. 

Because overdrafts are so expensive, the vast majority of people avoid them. In XXXX, an overdraft line of credit is a cash management product that makes sense for everyone. Keeping too much cash is expensive, because it could be better invested or placed into a long-term certificate of deposit. People of all economic backgrounds take advantage of generous overdraft lines of credit, which charge very low interest rates. Borrowing {$6.00} for six days would only cost a few pennies in most large XXXX banks. 

However, American banks have made going overdraft a sin and high overdraft fees the punishment. As a result, people with money have completely avoided overdrafts. Only a small percentage of the population uses the overdraft product. 8 % of bank customersgenerate 75 % of overdraft fees. Overdrafts have become a short-term borrowing mechanism for people who have no other option. And overdrafts offered by banks are often more expensive than payday lenders. The typical payday lender charges {$15.00} to borrow {$100.00} for XXXX weeks. As I mentioned in the XXXX XXXX XXXX example, large banks are charging much more than that. 

A banking practice is considered predatory when it meets a few definitions : It targets people with low income or limited financial meansIt charges a price that is dramatically higher than the cost of providing the serviceIt has opaque and complicated pricing that makes it difficult to understand the true cost of the productIt charges the fee when someone is in a vulnerable position and has few alternativesOverdraft fees meet all of those requirements. The price of an overdraft is dramatically higher than the cost of providing the service. Banks charge an average of {$30.00} to decline a transaction, which costs the bank close to nothing. When banks approve a transaction, credit risk is taken. However, the banks are charging effective interest rates above 400 % in the form of fees. The banks are addicted to the revenue, which is why the revenue remains despite the backlash. 

As overdrafts become more expensive, fewer people will use the service. Banks will extract more revenue from people who have fewer funds and a lower net worth. In my opinion, overdrafts are predatory and action is required. 

Thank you for your time and attention with this matter and may the peace of XXXX ( through XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX ) which surpasses all understand, be with you, Amen. 

Respectfully, XXXX XXXX of XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, FL XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX

Company public response: Company chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief