Missouri Court Rules That Bank's Automated Debit Card Overdraft Fees Were Not Subject To State Usury Laws

LexisNexis (May 3, 2018, 10:41 AM EDT) -- In recent years, legal challenges to automated overdraft programs have centered on posting order to enhance fees, particularly high-to-low debit posting.  We now have a good judicial decision from Missouri that involves a class-action where the plaintiffs allege that a state-chartered bank was violating the Missouri usury laws by charging debit card overdraft fees of $25 to $30.  The Missouri court of appeals rejected those claims on the ground that debit card overdraft fees were not interest under the usury laws, but statutorily-permitted "service charges" imposed on a deposit account....