You’ve probably heard by now about the new overdraft rules for debit and ATM cards. The reason I’m so sure you’ve heard is because I’ve been notified about 47 times by Envision Credit Union that I need to opt-in. Okay, I’ll be reasonable. I received four emails. Then someone called me, and I specifically declined. Then, the next time I logged into my online banking, before I could check my account balance I had to read a message about overdraft protection. After another email about it, I called the customer service center. “Is there a list I can get on that will prevent me from being contacted?” I asked. Wishful thinking on my part. The agent apologized and said she would annotate my account so I wouldn’t be bothered anymore. Well, I checked the mail later that week and this bright orange envelope arrived reminding me I needed to opt-in again. I was pissed, but it was probably being processed before my phone call to the credit union, so I cut them some slack.

Then while I was working in the garage this afternoon I received another phone call.

What’s the big deal? I’ll tell you. Banks made $23 billion dollars last year on just overdraft fees. That’s billion with a B. I currently have overdraft protection, and I imagine that’s how I got on the list in the first place. I have it, and I’ve not signed up for it again. In dealing with computer users I understand full well that people don’t read emails. We send plenty and they are all ignored. Now, when we want to get a user’s attention, we just change their password on their account. They come see us pretty quickly after that.  So I’ve tried to offer grace about this overdraft thing. I know that August 15th is going to be a hell day for the bank. Tons of screaming customers are going to be calling wondering why their debit cards got declined at Starbucks. But I asked specifically not to be bothered. After doing Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace course I decided that I would rather have my debit card get declined than pay a bank a $27.50 overdraft fee. In fact, I don’t want to pay the lower $5 fee to have them draft my credit card, either. I balance my checkbook now and if I don’t, I want the charge to get declined than pay anything extra. Fine, I’ll be embarrassed at the checkout line. I should be! I just tried to get something without paying for it. I should know better!

Unfortunately, the woman calling from the credit union today got an upset customer. I didn’t break the rules: no sarcasm, no profanity, no name-calling. But I told her that if I received another phone call I was closing my account. This has gotten ridiculous.

I like having access to a local bank. But Jamie uses USAA for her banking and I think I’m going to start using them, too. Will I close my account? Probably not, but I won’t leave any money in it above the minimum balance of $25. With USAA I can deposit checks using the scanner on my computer. They may be in Texas but my scanner is closer than even a local bank. Envision has been good to me, but on this issue they lost their focus. They were all about saving me money and being different than the big, corporate, greedy banks. But something happened and now they are acting like the big greedy banks, and I’ll have none of that, thankyouverymuch.