Why doesn’t bill pay have the option to “not pay if amount exceeds available balance”?
OK, I goofed, and I didn’t have quite enough in my checking account to cover my AmEx bill, which has an online banking-initiated payment for “whatever amount is due” to be paid, when the bill is due. Bank of America bill pay went and made the payment anyhow, and I got a $35 overdraft fee. (2 days after I transferred money in to cover the extra amount from savings!) So yes, I’m stupid, but $35 for an overdraft? I called to try and get it reversed, and because of a problem a year ago (similar but not the same) where they *did* reverse the fees, they won’t do it now. Arrrgh. I was certain when it happened a year ago they told me in the future it would automatically transfer the funds from savings (which had plenty of cash), but apparently, that wasn’t set up. They claim it now is, but who knows.
Anyway, yes, I’m an idiot; but $35 seems awfully steep. I can’t imagine this actually costs the bank *anything* (well, perhaps the interest on the “negative” amount they “loaned” me for a day). Certainly not $35. It appears these fees are incredibly lucrative, however, and Bank of America has recently raised the overdraft feeso as well.
Most importantly, from a computer-science / user-experience standpoint, the automatic bill pay system gives a bunch of options, including “only pay if it’s less than X amount”, etc. Why isn’t there a checkbox for “don’t pay if amount exceeds available balance–email me instead”? That seems simple, and logical. Maybe bill pay and the accounts are two separate systems, but it seems simple enough to bridge that gap–they’re all part of the same financial institution and they at least appear to be unified in the web interface. Of course, I guess that would cut into the possibility of some of that $17BN the industry generates from overdraft loans and fees, according to the link above from the Center for Responsible Lending…