See my previous post from 2003, Sovereign Bank Took $40 From Me!
It's called Overdraft Protection. I overdrew my checking account three times last month via automatic bill pay, and the bank charged me for taking money out of my savings account to pay these bills.Back in the good old days they used to provide this service for free.
The account structure is actually set up to make this happen and enrich the bank at the customer's expense.
According to Bankrate.com, the current APY on a Sovereign Bank Checking account is 0.80%. That's actually higher than Bank of America, which is at .01%, but a lot lower than an internet bank like Bank of Internet which pays 3.20%.
I emailed the bank, and got a response back which read, in part:
Thank you for contacting Sovereign Bank.I think what that means is that they want to tell me the bad news over the phone instead of email.
In order to research this issue, we will require additional information. Since email is inherently unsecured, for confidentiality reasons we request that you call us directly at the contact number listed below, or visit one of our conveniently located Community Banking Offices.
They really don't need any additional information to refund those overdraft charges. Do they?
I think a quick call to Bank of America, to see what their policy is, might strengthen my case. Or not. We'll see.