The Consumer Corner - Written by Beasley Allen on Wednesday, June 30, 2010 9:49 - 20 Comments

Woodforest Bank Agrees To $12 Million In Overdraft Refunds

Woodforest Bank has agreed to refund more than $12 million to consumers who were charged high on bank accounts. In addition, the bank will pay a $400,000 penalty to the federal Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS). It’s the toughest penalty ever imposed by OTS regarding , as a debate over the fees heats up. Woodforest will repay current and former customers “who were misled about the cost of overdraft protection and charged excessive overdraft-protection fees.” Woodforest’s business relied “upon an unreasonably high level of aggregate fees,” according to OTS.

The 169-unit savings bank has 35 offices in Alabama Wal-Mart stores. The savings bank’s owner, Woodforest Financial Group of Woodlands, Texas, also owns the 577-unit Woodforest National Bank. Existing and former depositors charged since January 2, 2008, will get refunds. Under the order, the bank must repay eligible customers by June 23rd. Customers seeking more information can call 1-877-968-7962.

Consumer advocates have been pushing for federal action to cap bank charges for a long time. Customers overdraw accounts by $20 on average, but are charged higher fees, according to Jean Ann Fox of the Consumer Federation of America. She added: “They can charge astronomical interest rates for short-term cash advances, and they don’t have to quote the (rate).” Wal-Mart shoppers fit the profile of banking customers most likely to get caught in a spiral of overdraft charges (low- to moderate-income, female-headed households). It should be safe for low-balance consumers to have a bank account, according to Ms. Fox. I agree with that assessment.

Source: Al.com



20 Comments

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elizabeth kennedy
Oct 24, 2010 12:18

how do i find out if i have money coming from the overdraft lawsuit

Caytie Petite
Dec 6, 2010 20:12

Just recieved my check, what a life saver!

demetress winfield
Dec 10, 2010 12:08

this is a scam I have been with this company since 2007 and was charge $5.00 for negative balances and $34.00 overdraft fees continually and I only received $3.00 they did not reimburse me. scam…..

MJ
Dec 14, 2010 15:54

We have had many bad months in the past because of these overdraft fees. Including one month when we had over $300 in overdraft fees. So you can imagine my shock when we only recived $12. What can I do? My family is in a situation where we need the money now more than ever.

Malinda
Dec 31, 2010 9:43

I received mine on the 8th. I actually just opened it today. Thought is was a scam… had to look it up before I took it to the bank. 1600 dollars!!! thank goodness!!!

amelia Street
Mar 1, 2011 11:40

I closed my account because of the mounting charges but I called and they said I was not on the list for rebate. Who can I address this to instead of the bank?

David P.
Mar 20, 2011 12:20

This bank is as shady as they come! Not only do they charge outrageous fees, but they don’t provide enough information when you get your e-statements to see what some of the transactions were for. When you email them to find out more information about the transaction, they charge you $2.00. It is a vicious cycle with this bank. But the kicker is……..I bank in San Antonio at the Woodforest branch in Wal-mart on SE Loop 410 and Rigsby–and the manager took $50 out of my account without giving me any kind of notice. I pulled up the trasaction record for May 5, 2009–and the scanned copy of the debit was signed by the manager and the memo for the transaction only stated “Xfer to proper account”. This led me to believe that they had accidentally made a deposit that was supposed to be for another customer into my account. I pulled up my transaction history, and NO $50 deposit was ever placed into my account by the bank. They STOLE $50 from me. When I went to the branch in person to get more information about the transaction (on several occasions) the manager was always “unavailable”. I went to a different branch to see if anyone there could help me, and one of the other branch managers told me “very secretively” that it looks like the manager “improperly took the funds”. I asked her to please conduct an inquiry into the transaction to help me get the $50 deposited back into my account, and she said she would “take care of it.” After 4 weeks of waiting and not seeing my money, I went back to the manager who said she would help me (at the Wal-mart branch on Jones-Maltsberger in San Antonio) and she acted like she had NEVER spoken with me. She pretended to not know anything about my situation. These people are very, very shady. The customer service is awful. When you go into a branch to make a straight cash deposit, they treat you like you have to “qualify” just to put your cash in your bank. A straight deposit should never take 5 minutes. They are pulling up screen after screen, scratching their heads like they’ve never seen a straight cash deposit for $500. Needless to say, I’ve closed my account and now bank with Wells Fargo. I banked there because it was close to my house, and I shop at Wal-mart at least once a week. I thought it would be convenient, but did not realize I would be stolen from. I never did get my money back. Avoid these deceptive people at all cost.

thomas kenneth battle
Mar 28, 2011 12:57

the charges on my acount as a overdraft fee 90.00 on my checking account with woodforestnational bank my attorney is working on this acct as for bank privreleges o n a claim of a identity theft settlement penalty of law commonwealth of virginia city of danville attorney at law william h young 1540-951-3740

thomaskbattle
Apr 19, 2011 13:19

.Ialso have aclaim n chicago ill transunion credit report because of a student loan dated amt 1.00000.000 million 20.000 data settlementnotary public viable verge 50.000 countrywidedata if I could get a cash advance on my settlement tobuy a nissan maximma 434-797-1320

thomaskbattle
Apr 19, 2011 13:28

I can send woodforestnational bank a police report defendent insurance policy documents case not on a contingency basis liabitility admitted yes or no find out from attorney i am on social security

Mayeth
May 6, 2011 19:05

This is bank is unbelievable, I worked in wal-mart before and since the bank inside the store I open an account with them and use this bank as my primary bank and use for my bills the thing is they charge me too much when my bill came straight to my bank and not enough fund they charge my $30 plus $5 per day you didn’t fund the bank, this bank help me to be in debt, every pay check it go straight to this bank and cover the over draft plus the $5 per day so in $10 days that’s $50 huge that’s why I told myself I’m not gonna get full with WOODFOREST BANK!!! My experience with this bank is absolutely bad!!!!

Gracie T. Lumpkin
Jun 1, 2011 9:00

My husband and myself opened an account with Woodforest National Bank in Whitehall, Ohio in December 2010. We are in Greensboro, N.C. visiting relatives for a while so we do our banking at the branch in Wal-Mart Pyramids Village shopping plaza. Today is Wednesday June 1, 2011 and my husband went to the bank this morning and our direct deposit from Ford Motor in Ohio was only $28.00!! These people are a bunch of fraud artists and their overdraft fees are outrageous!! We were charged $380.00 in overdraft fees for 2 transactions. We are in the process of taking these crooks to court as I post this. How come these crooks aren’t prosecuted to the fullest and sent to jail? Our judicial system are crooks too so crooks always watch each others backs!! Fight for your rights people because the crooks are ruling the world!!

Mrs. Dempsey
Sep 13, 2011 10:23

I was supposed to receive a check but the bank took it back saying I owed them for non sufficient funds fees. I thought they were the same as overdraft fees I guess I was wrong. The bank never completed a transaction for me only deposits. Well lesson learned I guess. Woodforest bank is a joke and a big scam. Be weary when dealing with this bank.

debra horton
Sep 30, 2011 9:28

how do i find out if im owed money back

Julie Stevens
Dec 30, 2011 9:28

I would like to see if I can get anoverdtaft charge refunded

Julie Stevens
Dec 30, 2011 9:32

Refunded over draft charge would be nicej

zach
May 16, 2012 13:05

i got a 1700 dollar check from them it was awesome

Edna tipton
Jun 6, 2012 10:33

Oh yes, bunch of crooks. I received a letter saying they were ordered in a lawsuit to refund overdraft fees, but they simply credited that amount to the closed account saying it was overdrawn because of the fee they imposed on me for CLOSING THE ACCOUNT. So they only issued a refund on their paper trail, I never got a cent of the hundreds of dollars they stole from me! I would make my deposits, and they’d tell me the funds were available (per manager) and to go ahead and pay my bills…this after I’d already had many bad experiences and filed complaints with several branch managers….then 11 days later they decided no, they wanted to put holds on my deposits which had cleared the issuing checks banks the day after my deposit! I would get letters in the mail, saying they’d placed holds on my deposits (up to 15 days in many cases!) way AFTER my account had showed the deposited checks as cleared and availble for use! Then they charged me $35 dollars for every transaction I ever made through my account!
Crooks. That’s what they are! When I called the main office in TX I was told that’s their policy and I shouldn’t have paid my bills till they said I could! I told them their own branch manager TOLD me my deposits were cleared, and they impatiently explaned that they (in the main office) had over ridden what the branch manager had noted on my account!
I went to several different branches, talked to managers at all of them, and at one the manager even stated “it’s people like YOU who can’t be responsible with their money and bank accounts and who don’t know how to pay their bills that cause problems like this!” as she rolled her eyes at me and my complaints!
I was incredibly happy to see they’d finally been taken to court for their actions, however even though they lost in the lawsuit, I still never got any money refunded.

GEOGE ROOKS
Sep 22, 2012 19:08

HOW DO I FOUND OUT IF I GOT MONEY COMEING TO ME

connie brown
Dec 29, 2012 9:20

hOW DO i FIND OUT AGAINST WOODFOREST. i REPORTED TO NATIONAL BANK ONLINE.

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