Overdraft and NSF Fee Lawsuits: Refunds, Settlements, and Who Qualifies

An overdraft fee is charged when a bank pays a transaction that takes your account below zero. An NSF (non-sufficient funds) or returned item fee is charged when the bank declines to pay. Both are legal in general. The lawsuits challenge specific practices that customers say were hidden or unfair:

• "Authorize positive, settle negative" fees. Your balance covered the purchase when you swiped, but other transactions posted first and the bank charged an overdraft fee when the purchase settled days later.
• Re-presentment NSF fees. A merchant resubmits the same rejected payment, and the bank charges a new fee each time.
• Posting order. Posting the largest transactions first to create more overdrafts, a practice behind many of the earliest overdraft class actions.
• Opt-in violations. Charging overdraft fees on ATM and one-time debit card transactions without the customer's valid consent.

Wells Fargo

On December 20, 2022, the CFPB ordered Wells Fargo to pay more than $2 billion in consumer redress and a $1.7 billion penalty over problems across auto loans, mortgages, and deposit accounts. On the deposit side, the CFPB found Wells Fargo unfairly charged overdraft fees even when customers had enough money available to cover the transaction at the time they made it. See our Wells Fargo lawsuit page for the bank's other cases.

Regions Bank

On September 28, 2022, Regions agreed to repay $141 million to customers and pay a $50 million penalty over overdraft fees on transactions that were covered when authorized. It was the second time in a decade that Regions was found to have charged illegal overdraft fees.

Bank of America

In July 2023, Bank of America was ordered to refund more than $100 million to customers and pay $150 million in penalties ($90 million to the CFPB and $60 million to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency). Part of the case involved "double dipping": charging a $35 fee when it declined a payment for insufficient funds, then charging again each time the same transaction was resubmitted.

Navy Federal Credit Union

On November 7, 2024, the CFPB ordered Navy Federal to pay more than $95 million over surprise overdraft fees. On July 1, 2025, the CFPB terminated that order and waived any alleged noncompliance with it. Navy Federal members who were charged these fees may still have private claims.

Atlantic Union Bank

In December 2023, Atlantic Union Bank agreed to pay $6.2 million to resolve CFPB allegations about how it enrolled customers in overdraft coverage for debit card and ATM transactions without proper consent.

The federal picture changed in 2025:

• The overdraft rule was repealed. The CFPB finalized a rule in December 2024 that would have treated overdraft programs at banks and credit unions with more than $10 billion in assets as credit, and would have capped overdraft fees at $5 unless the institution showed a higher fee covered its actual costs or treated the overdraft as a loan. On May 9, 2025, the President signed a Congressional Review Act resolution overturning it, so the rule never took effect.
• A major order was dropped. The Navy Federal order was terminated on July 1, 2025.
• Completed settlements stand. The Wells Fargo, Regions, and Bank of America refunds were ordered years earlier and are not affected by the repeal.

With less federal enforcement, private class actions have become the main route to refunds. Private overdraft cases are usually brought as breach of contract claims: the customer argues the account agreement did not allow the fee the bank charged. Many of these cases settle with automatic credits to current customers and checks to former customers, and many involve community banks and credit unions rather than the largest banks.

You may be part of a settlement class, or have a claim of your own, if:

1. You had a checking account at a bank or credit union named in a case during the covered period.
2. You were charged a type of fee the case targets, such as an overdraft on a transaction your balance covered when authorized, or a second NSF fee on the same item.
3. You did not already get a refund for that fee.

In government orders and many private settlements, eligible customers do not need to file a claim form; the bank credits the account or mails a check based on its own records. Former customers need a current mailing address on file with the settlement administrator.

How to tell if a fee might be improper

Pull the statement for the month of the fee and look at the day you made the purchase. If your available balance was higher than the purchase amount at that moment, but a fee was charged when the purchase posted days later, that is the "authorize positive, settle negative" pattern regulators challenged. If you see the same merchant and the same amount rejected two or three times, each with its own fee, that is the re-presentment pattern. If you see debit card overdraft fees but do not remember ever agreeing to overdraft coverage, ask the bank for its record of your opt-in.

Who probably does not qualify: people who were overdrawn with no money available and chose overdraft coverage, people charged a single fee disclosed clearly in their agreement, and people whose bank is not part of any case. That does not mean the fee was fair, only that the law may not have been broken. You can still ask your bank to waive it.

Refunds are usually tied to the fees you actually paid. A customer who paid three improper $35 fees can expect a refund of about those fees, sometimes less if the settlement pays a share of the fund after attorney's fees and costs.

How the money reaches you also varies. In government orders, the bank typically identifies affected customers from its own records and credits open accounts or mails checks to closed-account customers. In private settlements, current customers often get an automatic account credit, while former customers may receive a check or need to confirm an address. Very few overdraft settlements require receipts, because the bank already has the fee history.

Government penalties, like Bank of America's $150 million, go to the government, not to customers. For individual claims, the refund guide explains how to ask your bank directly, which is often faster than any lawsuit.

Be realistic: most people receive tens of dollars to a few hundred dollars, depending on how many fees they paid. See why class action payouts can be smaller than expected.

• Your account agreement. Most private cases turn on the contract. If the agreement says fees are based on your available balance when you make a purchase, and the bank charged based on a later balance, that can be a breach.
• Regulation E opt-in (12 C.F.R. § 1005.17). A bank may not charge an overdraft fee on an ATM withdrawal or one-time debit card purchase unless you affirmatively opted in to its overdraft service after receiving the required notice.
• Electronic Fund Transfer Act damages (15 U.S.C. § 1693m). Individuals can recover actual damages plus $100 to $1,000; class recovery is capped at the lesser of $500,000 or 1% of the bank's net worth.
• Unfair and deceptive practices. Federal regulators have used their authority over unfair practices to challenge surprise overdraft fees and repeat NSF fees, as in the Wells Fargo, Regions, and Bank of America orders.

• Electronic Fund Transfer Act: 1 year from the violation.
• Breach of contract: set by state law, commonly several years for written contracts, which is why many private cases reach back years.
• Settlement deadlines: each settlement sets its own dates to update your address, opt out, or object. Missing them can mean missing the payment.

Settlements usually define a class period, the range of dates in which fees must have been charged. Fees outside that period are not covered even if they were charged the same way, so compare the dates in the notice to your statements before assuming you are in or out.

Keep in mind that class action waivers and arbitration clauses appear in some account agreements. Where they apply, a customer may have to pursue a claim individually in arbitration instead of joining a class.

1. Download statements. Banks often keep only a few years online. Save them now, as PDFs, in a folder you will not lose if you close the account.
2. Mark each fee. For every overdraft or NSF fee, check whether your available balance covered the purchase when you made it, and whether the same payment was charged more than once.
3. Ask for a refund. Call or write your bank and ask for a courtesy waiver. Many banks will reverse recent fees, especially for customers who rarely overdraw.
4. Keep your address current. If you left a bank, update your address with it so settlement checks reach you. Watch for notices from a settlement administrator.
5. Beware of scams. A real settlement never asks for your online banking password. File only on the official settlement website named in the court notice. See how to spot settlement scams.
6. Get a review if the fees were large or repeated. Independent attorneys who handle banking cases can check whether your bank is already being sued or whether your fees fit a new case.

Claims in pending cases are allegations until a court rules. If your bank charged you fees that did not match its own rules, a free case review takes about two minutes.