Can you answer any of these questions posed by other users? Think of it as a civic good deed. See 3 more questions posed on this topic or submit your own question on the Q&A page.

Answered by a visitor on Nov 19, 2008 9:01 PM - This bill addresses only an amendment to the Truth-In-Lending Act to prevent unfair overdraft protection practices by lending institutions. The Truth-In-Lending Act currently has multiple protections for consumers regarding credit and fair credit reporting. See the FDIC website.

Answered by a visitor on Dec 3, 2008 8:10 PM - This bill prohibits banks from changing the order of processing checks SOLELY to increase overdraft fees. I presume the burden is on the depositor to prove that this was the banks ONLY intention. Generally, banks seem to process the largest checks first (which of course, leads to more of the smaller checks bouncing than normally would). The banks justify this by saying "well, the larger checks are probably more important, like mortgage or car payments, so we put those through first." I suspect this is a rational enough reason to allow the process to continue even under this bill. I would point out that bouncing your $29 minimum payment on a credit card can now have catastrophic implications on your interest rate, especially if you have a large balance. This kind of harm can typically exceed even home lender's reaction to bounced mortgage payments.

Answered by a visitor on Dec 26, 2008 10:14 PM - In the fine print of the original bank disclosure for a new account it states that the bank WILL process the checks from largest to smallest. This practice started some years ago and anyone who didn't watch their account daily on a computer feel deeper into debt by overdrafts. The "SYSTEMATIC MANIPULATION" of checks and debits as described in H.R. 946 is a computer program now used by the majority of banks. Said program also holds debits in some fashion for several days. Watch how your point of "electronic point of sale" is MANIPULATED and results in an NSF on your checks. The program changes the print out each day. Several purchases can be held back using a debit card and cause a domino effect on your account if you are 1 penny off in your accounting. Your debit card is no longer rejected by merchants because the majority of banks have provided your debit account with a $500 limit (above balance) when used as stated in H.R. 946. This bill will not make it because of the millions (see Maplight.com) given to congress by the banking industry. This practice violates the Fair Practices Act and breeds GREED. The bill is very wordy, the main issue is to investigate the computer program and return to "first in, first out" and stop holding the posting of "electronic purchases". If your account doesn't have it, please don't let it go through and bounce all the checks!!