Two new bills providing onerous restrictions on payment of overdrafts were recently introduced in Congress. The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs and the House Committee on Financial Services are likely to act rapidly on this legislation; therefore, contact with officials serving on these committees is needed TODAY. 

In the House, the bill is H.R. 3904, the Overdraft Protection Act of 2009.  In the Senate, the bill is S. 1799, the Fairness and Accountability in Receiving Overdraft Coverage Act of 2009. These bills will negatively affect overdraft protection for consumers and financial institutions in the following ways:

• Consumers who miss important payments will have their credit ratings negatively affected;
• Consumers will become more reliant on payday lenders for short term financial needs;
• Consumers will be forced to deal with multiple vendors' returned payment policies rather than just their financial institution;
• Financial institutions will re-price checking services and "free checking" will become a thing of the past;
• Financial institutions will be forced to impose new fees on other transactions to compensate for lost revenue;
• Financial institutions, in these times of multiple failures, should not be made less safe and sound.

Click on the following links to obtain the contact information for the committee members:

Senate Committee on Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs
House Committee on Financial Services