Remittance Transfers Under the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (Regulation E)

The CFPB has issued guidance to prevent banks from charging overdraft fees to a consumer where the banks have no evidence that they obtained the consumer’s consent for the overdraft. The CFPB’s guidance released on September 17 clarifies that a bank can be found in violation of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA) and its federal implementing rule, Regulation E, if the bank cannot produce evidence that it obtained affirmative consent from a consumer to enroll in covered overdraft services that resulted in charging overdraft fees to the consumer. The requirement to obtain the affirmative consent of a consumer for covered overdraft services applies to fees for overdraft loans to cover ATM and one-time debit transactions. The requirement does not apply to overdraft fees charged on paper checks, recurring debit transactions, or ACH transactions. Banks found to have violated the EFTA’s opt-in requirement can be liable for refunding affected consumers and paying monetary penalties. Click here for a copy of the CFPB’s guidance.