The $35 Overdraft Fee: You Can Turn It Off

Several large banks no longer charge an overdraft fee, and where it remains the charge is about $35. JPMorgan Chase takes $34 per item, capped at three fees a day. In 2025, Chase and Wells Fargo each collected about $1 billion in overdraft fees. 12

In December 2024 the CFPB finalized a rule that would have capped the fee at $5 for banks and credit unions holding more than $10 billion in assets. The agency put the savings at up to $5 billion a year, or $225 for each household that pays overdraft fees, and the rule was set to take effect on October 1, 2025. Congress repealed it in 2025 before that happened. 34

The charge depends on an opt-in. Regulation E bars an overdraft fee on an ATM or one-time debit card transaction unless the customer affirmatively consented. A customer may revoke that consent at any time, and the bank must carry out the revocation as soon as reasonably practicable. Checks, automatic payments, and other transactions fall outside that rule, so a buffer still matters there. 5

Regulators have penalized the "surprise" version of the fee: a charge on a purchase that the account covered when the customer swiped, and that only settled negative later. The CFPB ordered Navy Federal Credit Union to pay more than $95 million in refunds and penalties 6, and Regions Bank $191 million, of which $141 million went back to consumers as refunds. 3

Turn overdraft coverage off and a swipe that would overdraw the account is declined instead of costing $35.