Consumer complaint received 2015-09-30
Product: Bank account or service — Checking account
Issue: Problems caused by my funds being low — 
Company: ALLY FINANCIAL INC. (VA)

I contacted Ally Bank XXXX Ally.com XXXX about how to opt out of having the bank cover an overdraft with an ATM fee and thus opt out of related fees. They told me there is no way to opt out of having the transaction covered ( and also told me there 'd be a fee ). This seems to contradict the law -- as well as Ally 's own website. Below is the chat session ( please note my real name is not used in the chat session -- I do n't want my real name published on the CFPB website. Plus, I was asking the question on behalf of my brother, who does n't have an account with them, and i did not want them to answer the question specific to my account ) CHAT SESSSION BELOWWelcome to Ally 's Live Chat. Thanks for joining us! A Customer Care Associate will be with you in a moment. You are number XXXX in the queue. Thank you for waiting. 
You are now chatting with XXXX : Thank you for chatting with me today. How can I help you? 
XXXX : Hi, chatted a second ago about opting out of having a debit card transaction go through if there is not enough money in the account to cover the debit card transaction. You ( someone at Ally XXXX said there was no way to opt out of this and also no way to avoid a fee if using the debit card were to overdraft the account. Are you sure about this? My XXXX understanding of the law, from a webpage ( not a lawyer ) is this : XXXX : Remember to wear black XXXX XXXX, because that 's the day the infamous {$35.00} XXXX may finally meet its demise. From that day forward, a new Federal Reserve rule will prohibit banks from charging overdraft protection fees unless a customer opts in. Overdraft protection is a service offered by banks that allows checking account holders to temporarily make purchases with a debit card even if they do n't have sufficient funds in their account to cover them. In effect, the bank makes a shortterm loan to the account holder so his debit card is n't declined at the register or an ATM machine. In return, the bank charges an overdraft fee of {$10.00} to {$35.00}, according to an informal XXXX survey. " ( The new law ) puts the decision in the hands of the consumer as to whether they want overdraft protection for smalldollar transactions conducted by ATM and debit card, '' says XXXX XXXX, XXXX and XXXX 's senior economic analyst. Read more XXXX XXXX # XXXX Follow us : @ XXXX on XXXX XXXX XXXX on XXXX XXXX XXXX Yes. I advised you that you can place overdraft protection on your checking account if you have a savings account to set that up. I apologize if I was unclear about this earlier, XXXX. 
XXXX : Yes, you advised that. I do not want overdraft protection of any kind. I want the transaction denied. According to the bankrate website, that is my right by law. I wanted to check if indeed you give me the option to opt out of any overdraft ( as the website suggests is the law ) and how to do it. 
XXXX XXXX : I 'm sorry for the delay. I 'll be right with you. 
XXXX XXXX : It states that this would be the consumer 's decision, not that the bank has to offer it. We provide a wayto avoid overdrafts and it is up to you to choose if you want to use them or not. 
XXXX : " From that day forward, a new Federal Reserve rule will prohibit banks from charging overdraft protection fees unless a customer opts in. " XXXX : That seems prettty plain that I have to opt in to pay an overdraft fee! XXXX : Do you have a manager? 
XXXX XXXX : I do have a manager. XXXX moment while I get XXXX on the line for you. It make take 35 minutes to get them on. I apologize for the wait. 
XXXX XXXX : They are trying to get their system up. It will be a few more moments. 
XXXX XXXX : Unfortunately, my manager is not able to get their chat program up. Would you be willing to receive acall from them? 
XXXX : Can he come to your cmputer and chat? 
XXXX : If not, I might simply turn this chat window o