I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1487 

To amend the Electronic Fund Transfer Act to require notice to the consumer 

before any fee may be imposed by a financial institution in connection 

with any transaction for any overdraft protection service provided with 

respect to such transaction, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 12, 2009 

Mr. MEEK of Florida introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To amend the Electronic Fund Transfer Act to require notice 

to the consumer before any fee may be imposed by 

a financial institution in connection with any transaction 

for any overdraft protection service provided with respect 

to such transaction, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Overdraft Fee Notifi5 cation Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. NOTIFICATION OF OVERDRAFT FEE. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 905 of the Electronic 

3 Fund Transfer Act (15 U.S.C. 1693c) is amended by add4 ing at the end the following new subsection: 

5 ‘‘(d) NOTIFICATION OF OVERDRAFT FEE FOR IN6 PERSON, AUTOMATED, TELEPHONIC, AND INTERNET7 BASED TRANSACTIONS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any financial 

9 institution that provides any overdraft protection 

10 service to any consumer on a flat, per-transaction 

11 basis in connection with a withdrawal from or debit 

12 of the consumer’s account at the financial institution 

13 in a transaction described in paragraph (2) that 

14 would result in an overdraft of such consumer ac15 count, no fee or charge may be imposed for such 

16 overdraft protection service unless the notice re17 quired by this subsection has been provided to the 

18 consumer, in the manner required under this sub19 section, before the completion of the transaction that 

20 would result in an overdraft. 

21 ‘‘(2) SCOPE OF APPLICATION.—Paragraph (1) 

22 shall apply to any withdrawal from or debit of a con23 sumer’s account at a financial institution in a trans24 action initiated by the consumer as an electronic 

25 fund transfer or in person at a branch of the finanVerDate Nov 24 2008 05:05 Mar 14, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1487.IH H1487

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1 cial institution staffed by employees of the financial 

2 institution. 

3 ‘‘(3) AUTOMATED TELLER MACHINE TRANS4 ACTIONS.—In the case of any electronic fund trans5 fer initiated by a consumer at any automated teller 

6 machine, whether or not such machine is maintained 

7 by the financial institution that holds the account of 

8 the consumer initiating the transaction, the fol9 lowing disclosure rules shall apply: 

10 ‘‘(A) BALANCE REQUESTS.— 

11 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a 

12 request by the consumer at the automated 

13 teller machine for balance information, the 

14 display provided on the machine shall pro15 vide such information in a manner that 

16 differentiates between— 

17 ‘‘(I) the funds available in the ac18 count that are attributable to deposits 

19 by or on behalf of the consumer; and 

20 ‘‘(II) funds available to the cus21 tomer from the institution in connec22 tion with an overdraft protection serv23 ice. 

24 ‘‘(ii) OVERDRAFT PROTECTION SERV25 ICE FEE AMOUNT.—On the same screen of 


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1 the automated teller machine referred to in 

2 clause (i), the display shall provide infor3 mation on any fee that would be imposed 

4 for the provision of any overdraft protec5 tion service provided in connection with the 

6 transaction. 

7 ‘‘(B) WITHDRAWAL OR TRANSFER.—In the 

8 case of a request by the consumer at the auto9 mated teller machine to initiate an electronic 

10 fund transfer that can be completed only if an 

11 overdraft protection service is provided to the 

12 consumer, the display provided on the machine 

13 shall provide the following notice, with the 

14 blanks filled in appropriately, and the option for 

15 the consumer to accept or decline the service: 

16 ‘‘ ‘This request exceeds your funds available and 

17 will result in an overdraft of $ll and the im18 position of a fee from your financial institution 

19 of $ll. To accept this fee and continue with 

20 your transaction, press ‘‘ACCEPT’’. To termi21 nate this transaction, press ‘‘DECLINE’’.’. 

22 ‘‘(4) AUTOMATED POINT OF SALE TRANS23 ACTION.—In the case of any electronic fund transfer 

24 initiated by a consumer at any automated point-of25 sale machine that can be completed only if an overVerDate Nov 24 2008 05:05 Mar 14, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1487.IH H1487

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1 draft protection service is provided to the consumer 

2 for a fee, the following disclosure rules shall apply 

3 to the extent a screen operated in conjunction with 

4 the machine is available to the consumer for effec5 tuating the transaction: 

6 ‘‘(A) NOTICE OF OVERDRAFT.—The dis7 play provided on the machine shall provide the 

8 following notice and the option for the con9 sumer to continue or discontinue the trans10 action: 

11 ‘‘ ‘Transaction will result in an overdraft of 

12 $ll. To continue with your transaction, press 

13 ‘‘CONTINUE’’. To terminate this transaction, 

14 press ‘‘NO’’.’. 

15 ‘‘(B) NOTICE OF FEE.—If the consumer 

16 referred to in subparagraph (A) continues with 

17 the transaction, the display provided on the ma18 chine shall provide the following notice and the 

19 option for the consumer to accept or decline the 

20 fee: 

21 ‘‘ ‘A fee of $ll will be imposed for the over22 draft. To accept this fee and continue with your 

23 transaction, press ‘‘ACCEPT’’. To terminate 

24 this transaction, press ‘‘DECLINE’’.’. 


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1 ‘‘(5) IN-PERSON AND TELEPHONIC TRANS2 ACTIONS.—In the case of any fund transfer or with3 drawal initiated by a consumer in person at a 

4 branch of the financial institution staffed by employ5 ees of the financial institution or verbally over the 

6 telephone, the following disclosure requirements shall 

7 apply: 

8 ‘‘(A) BALANCE REQUESTS.—If, in the 

9 course of the transaction, the amount of the 

10 balance in the consumer’s account is mentioned 

11 or requested, the customer shall be made aware 

12 verbally of any distinction between— 

13 ‘‘(i) the funds available in the account 

14 that are attributable to deposits by or on 

15 behalf of the consumer; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) funds available to the customer 

17 from the institution in connection with an 

18 overdraft protection service. 

19 ‘‘(B) OVERDRAFT PROTECTION SERVICE

20 FEE AMOUNT.—If the consummation of the 

21 withdrawal or fund transfer transaction would 

22 result in the imposition of an overdraft protec23 tion service fee on the account of the consumer, 

24 the consumer shall promptly be informed of 


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1 such fact and the amount of the fee before the 

2 transaction is final. 

3 ‘‘(6) INTERNET AND OTHER ELECTRONIC TER4 MINAL TRANSACTIONS.—In the case of any elec5 tronic fund transfer initiated by the consumer at any 

6 electronic terminal or computer, other than an auto7 mated teller machine or automated point-of-sale ma8 chine meeting the requirements of paragraph (3) or 

9 (4), that can be completed only if an overdraft pro10 tection service is provided to the consumer for a fee, 

11 the display provided on the terminal or computer 

12 shall provide the following notice and the option for 

13 the consumer to accept or decline the fee: 

14 ‘‘ ‘This request exceeds your funds available and will 

15 result in an overdraft of $ll and the imposition 

16 of a fee from your financial institution of $ll. To 

17 accept this fee and continue with your transaction, 

18 press ‘‘ACCEPT’’. To terminate this transaction, 

19 press ‘‘DECLINE’’.’. 

20 ‘‘(7) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub21 section and section 906(c)(5), the following defini22 tions shall apply: 

23 ‘‘(A) ANNUAL PERCENTAGE RATE.—The 

24 term ‘annual percentage rate’ means the rate of 

25 interest determined in the manner provided in 


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1 section 108 and regulations prescribed by the 

2 Board under such section. 

3 ‘‘(B) OVERDRAFT PROTECTION SERVICE.— 

4 The term ‘overdraft protection service’ means 

5 any service provided by a financial institution 

6 holding the account of any consumer pursuant 

7 to which any debit against the account is paid 

8 by the financial institution even though there 

9 are insufficient funds in the account to cover 

10 the amount of the debit, however such payment 

11 is accomplished, including through the use of 

12 overdraft lines of credit, linked accounts, or any 

13 overdraft protection program for which the fi14 nancial institution has not complied with the 

15 disclosure requirements under the Truth in 

16 Lending Act and regulations prescribed under 

17 such Act.’’. 

18 (b) INFORMATION REQUIRED IN PERIODIC STATE19 MENT.—Section 906(c) of the Electronic Fund Transfer 

20 Act (15 U.S.C. 1693d(c)) is amended— 

21 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

22 (3); 

23 (2) by striking the period at the end of para24 graph (4) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 


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1 (3) by inserting after paragraph (4) the fol2 lowing new paragraph: 

3 ‘‘(5) with respect to each case in which the fi4 nancial institution was required to provide notice to 

5 a customer under any paragraph of section 905(d) 

6 of the imposition of an overdraft fee and the amount 

7 of the fee during the period covered by the periodic 

8 statement, a written statement of the annual per9 centage rate which the fee represents with respect to 

10 the amount of the overdraft in type no smaller than 

11 other required disclosures under this subsection, but 

12 not less than 8-point type, and in the following form: 

13 ‘‘ ‘Overdraft Fee Annual Percentage Rate Notice: 

14 The overdraft fee resulting from your transaction 

15 dated lll is equal to an Annual Percentage Rate 

16 of ll% on your overdraft balance of $lll.’.’’. 

Æ 


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