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How is this Legal?

Shouldn't these practices be felonious?  [F]inancial institutions collected more than $17.5 billion in overdraft fees last year, reports the Center for Responsible Lending, a nonprofit policy group. Contrary to popular belief, using a debit card won't prevent you from overdrawing your account. Debit card use triggers 46% of all overdrafts, according to the Center for Responsible Lending. "They allow the debits to go through, instead of rejecting them," says Ed Mierzwinski, consumer program director for the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. "It's disgraceful." Freedom of contract, right?  Even though everyone's definition of debit cards means "same thing as cash."  Even though you can show survey after survey showing that people believe that if there isn't any money in his or her debit account, then a charge will not go through...continue to full post

Full post as published by Crime & Federalism on August 20, 2008 (boomark / email).