How To Get Overdraft Fees Waived [Script Included]

See if this sound familiar. You’ve got an annual overdraft fee of $450 due, and you wonder how or when it got there. It just did. So you scratch your head thinking how you can remedy the situation and salvage your savings. The problem? Without proper guidance, you may end up going in circles. When this happens, you might want to ask yourself the million-dollar question – how to get overdraft fees waived?

But first, what are bank overdraft fees?

Understanding Overdraft Fees

In simple terms, an overdraft fee is a penalty charged by banks when there are insufficient funds in an account to cover an expense. Like many of you I have quite a few automated payments going out every month. So I have to make sure there are enough funds to cover them. It’s so easy to forget when the payments are due. In the case you do forget to keep enough funds when a payment goes out, your bank will let you ‘borrow’ the required funds to complete the transaction. This is a facility provided by most banks so your payments won’t default. As with any loan, you’ll have to pay back the amount that was lent to you. Problem is, it’s so easy to forget about that negative balance in your bank account and overspend. In fact, you might not notice it at all until you see the charge in your account.

Don’t be alarmed just yet. You still have options to get overdraft fees waived. Yes, you read it correct. Here are several tactics that have been proven to succeed in settling and disputing overdraft fees.

The Tactics To Get Overdraft Fees Waived

Call your bank

You didn’t see that coming, did ya?

Many people seem to underestimate the effectiveness of this tactic. Once the damage has been done, it’s not ‘totally’ done. You should simply call your bank and address the situation. The sooner the better. It makes it easier to convince bank representatives to get those pesky overdraft fees waived as soon as you realize it. You could be under the impression that your bank has wronged you. But that may not be the case. In either case staying both calm and polite is crucial.

Why? Think about it this way: bank representative on the other end of the line has probably had a bad day. And when you deal with a lot of angry customers on a daily basis, the politest ones tend to stand out and leave a lasting impression. Exercising politeness makes a representative more willing to help you. Not to mention it’s the right way.

If you’re rude, then you might as well reconsider getting overdraft fees waived at all. Because at the end of the day, the influence of the bank representative is the deciding factor. Being nice and polite doesn’t mean you should take a no for an answer as soon as you get it. You should stand your ground and remind them of your bank history and your loyalty to the bank. For example:

• “I’m so sorry. This is the first time this has ever happened. If you check my banking history, you’ll see that I haven’t had an overdraft fee.”
•  “Even though I’ve gotten some really good offers from your competitors, I haven’t considered going with them, and I’d really appreciate if you reconsider the fee.”
• “Honestly, I’ve never called up the bank to cancel a fee or a penalty before. Can’t you help me out? This is really stressing me out.”
• “I’ve been a loyal customer of this bank for more than few years now. Can’t you do this for me?”

And if this fails? Politely hang up and call again. There’s a chance that the second bank rep whom you speak to might be more willing to assist you.

Rely on personal connections

If you’ve got a friend or a family member working for the bank, having them assist you might make it easier to dispute overdraft fees. In fact, your positive history with them might be a deciding factor in getting that negative balance in your account waived.

Talk to the people of a higher rank

You could end up with a bank representative who is extremely unwilling to help you getting your overdraft fees waived. Trying to convince them over the phone may do nothing helpful. When this happens, you should consider speaking to a manager or a supervisor. People of a higher rank are able to waive your overdraft fees with ease, albeit with a lot of convincing. They would also don’t want to lose you as a customer.

Make a social media post

Using this tactic is more of a hit-or-miss; chances of getting your overdraft fees waived are as likely as getting your request denied. Most banks are willing to do almost anything to make sure that their reputation isn’t damaged, and a coherent post addressed to their social media page might get you the positive response you’ve been looking for.

Still no luck! What now?

If everything you tried failed to get those pesky overdraft fees waived, what should you do now? You’ve learned your lesson, so the next best thing you can possibly do is prepare for the future, to make sure that you avoid incurring overdraft fees in the first place. Start by following these methods:

Opt out of overdraft protection

When you sign up for a checking account, your bank will try to convince you to sign up for a service called ‘overdraft protection’. Simply put, this refers to a policy in which the bank will lend you some money whenever a payment is more than your balance. By declining or opting out of overdraft protection, you won’t encounter any overdraft fees. Keep in mind though, if your account has insufficient funds to cover a payment, it will bounce back. You may incur fees from the charging company for such failures.

Keep track of your expenses

Most, if not all monthly payments are fixed amounts. So you know how much is needed, and when. I usually keep a track of these payments by adding them to my calendar. So I get notified before the payment date. That way I can make sure I keep enough funds in the account for the payment. You can also use budgeting tools for this.

Rely on account transfers

There are few banks that offer a different kind of overdraft protection service. This involves transferring money from one of your other accounts to the one that you are attempting to take money from. Depending on what your bank offers, you can transfer money out of another savings account or a credit card whenever you overspend.

Use the envelope system

You might be wondering what the ‘envelope system’ is. It’s really simple. It’s a small process which involves allocating cash for your expenses at the beginning of each month. The money for mortgage, groceries, gas, and leisure expenses etc. are sorted into envelopes. Once used up, you have to exercise your self-restraint by not overspending. Unless an emergency arises, you have to stop yourself from dipping into the cash in the other envelopes.

In fact, physical envelopes aren’t even necessary in this day and age. Just track your expenses with a budgeting app.

If you’re not careful, incurring overdraft fees might become a habit, and if this happens too many times, then getting your bank to refund them will become difficult. But now that you’re aware of the tactics to settle these fees and the methods to avoid incurring them at all, you’ll be less likely to have a negative balance to settle at the end of the year.

What have you tried to get your overdraft fees waived?