OCC Assesses $60 Million Civil Money Penalty Against Bank of America Related to Bank’s Overdraft Program — 2023-07-11

WASHINGTON—The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) today announced a $60 million civil money penalty against Bank of America, N.A., for violations of law relating to its practice of assessing multiple overdraft and insufficient funds fees against customers for a single transaction. The OCC found that Bank of America charged customers tens of millions of dollars in fees on resubmitted transactions. In particular, the bank’s practices violated Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, which prohibits unfair or deceptive acts or practices. Generally, when a bank receives a check or automated clearing house (ACH) transaction for payment from a customer’s deposit account, and the account has insufficient funds available for the payment, the bank may decline to pay the transaction and charge the customer an insufficient funds (NSF) fee. In some instances, third-party merchants resubmit, or represent, such checks or transactions for payment.