Overdraft Fees: Compare What Banks Charge

Alliant Credit Union doesn’t charge overdraft fees. Customers can opt in to a free overdraft protection transfer service to cover unexpected overdrafts. Alliant’s Courtesy Pay service — where Alliant pays to cover transactions that extend beyond a customer’s overdraft protection — is available to customers who have been credit union members for at least six months and have transferred at least $600 into their accounts each month.

American Express National Bank rejects any transaction that would result in a negative balance. Though this helps you avoid fees, you may want to look into a more flexible overdraft program if you’re concerned about needing to be able to overdraft.

Capital One 360 offers free overdraft protection transfers from a linked Capital One 360 savings account or money market account, and the bank might decide to not charge an overdraft fee for a check payment, electronic payment or recurring debit card transaction that results in an overdraft. If you don’t opt in to these services, your transactions will be declined by the bank.

Chime, a financial technology company, offers a program called SpotMe®. Eligible customers who meet the requirements can overdraft up to $200 with no fee. Transactions that would overdraw the account by more than $200, or overdraft transactions by ineligible members, are generally declined. There are no overdraft or nonsufficient funds fees.

"Chime SpotMe is an optional, no fee service that requires a single deposit of $200 or more in qualifying direct deposits to the Chime Checking Account each at least once every 34 days. All qualifying members will be allowed to overdraw their account up to $20 on debit card purchases and cash withdrawals initially, but may be later eligible for a higher limit of up to $200 or more based on member’s Chime Account history, direct deposit frequency and amount, spending activity and other risk-based factors. Your limit will be displayed to you within the Chime mobile app. You will receive notice of any changes to your limit. Your limit may change at any time, at Chime’s discretion. Although there are no overdraft fees, there may be out-of-network or third party fees associated with ATM transactions. SpotMe won’t cover non-debit card transactions, including ACH transfers, Pay Anyone transfers, or Chime Checkbook transactions. See Terms and Conditions."

With Discover Bank, you can link a qualifying Discover savings or money market account for free transfers if you don’t have enough cash in your checking account. Otherwise, the bank will decline the transaction that would cause a negative balance, at no charge to you.

One customers who make at least $500 in eligible direct deposits per month can overdraft up to $200 fee-free.

SoFi charges no overdraft fees, but customers can also opt in to two overdraft protections options: free overdraft protection transfers from your linked SoFi Savings account or a free buffer, called Overdraft Coverage, where SoFi allows you to overdraft up to $50 as long as you make monthly direct deposits of $1,000 or more.

Truist Bank has no overdraft fees or related overdraft fees, including continuous negative balance fees, returned item fees or overdraft protection transfer fees. Truist’s Negative Balance Buffer allows customers to overdraw their account up to $100 as long as they meet these initial qualifications: Their account must be open at least 35 days, it must have a positive balance, and a direct deposit of at least $100 must be made for two consecutive months. To maintain eligibility, a customer must make a recurring direct deposit of at least $100 per month.

The U.S. Bank Smartly Checking account allows customers to overdraft up to $50 with no overdraft protection transfer fee and a waived overdraft fee. If you overdraft more than $50, then you’ll be charged $36 up to four times per day.