May 25 (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co won preliminary court
approval of its agreement to pay $110 million to settle
nationwide litigation accusing it of charging excessive
overdraft fees.
The settlement would resolve lawsuits brought on behalf of
more than 1 million people over the fees, which are assessed
when customers overdraw their checking accounts by using their
debit cards.
Consumers accused more than 30 lenders of trying to boost
overdraft fees, which are typically $25 to $35, by reordering
transactions from largest to smallest rather than processing
them in chronological order.
This can cause fees to be incurred sooner and more often
because account balances fall more quickly.
Roughly one-third of the lenders have settled. Several
others have agreed to mediation.
On Friday, lawyers for Capital One Financial Corp
and the plaintiffs said efforts to mediate their dispute had
failed, and that court proceedings that had been put on hold
pending the mediation will resume.
In a order dated Thursday, U.S. District Judge James
Lawrence King in Miami, who oversees the nationwide litigation,
called the JPMorgan settlement fair, reasonable and adequate,
and certified a class of plaintiffs.
Customers may opt out of the settlement. A final hearing is
scheduled for Dec. 10.
Bank of America Corp's $410 million settlement is the
largest in the overdraft litigation.
Other banks to settle include Royal Bank of Scotland Group
Plc's Citizens Financial unit, which agreed to pay $137.5
million, and Toronto Dominion Bank, which agreed to pay
$62 million.
The Citizens and TD accords await court approval.
The case is In re: Checking Account Overdraft Litigation,
U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida, No.
09-md-02036.
For Checking Account Overdraft Litigation: Robert Cecil
Gilbert
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel)
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