Anyone might bounce a check on a rare occasion, but some folks do it a tad more frequently. Bouncing checks can be expensive; it's not at all unusual to see nonsufficient funds, or NSF, fees of $35 per check. Compounding the problem is the way in which many financial institutions process checks.
Example: Say you had $300 in your checking account and you wrote six checks totaling $375. The six checks are for $200, $12, $50, $60, $23 and $30. If they all came back to the bank on the same day, the bank could clear the last five and just bounce the one check that's for $200. But, more than likely, the bank will clear the $200 check and the $60 check and bounce the rest since the next largest check ($50) won't clear. You'd have to pay four NSF fees. The banks say they clear checks in this manner because they assume the larger checks are more important, such as for a mortgage payment or car loan.
An important aspect to overdraft protection is that you have to sign up for it. The bank won't automatically cover you just because you have a savings account or a credit card with them.
Most institutions that have this type of coverage automatically enroll just about all of their checking account customers. You might receive a notice from your bank or credit union indicating that if you bounce a check or two every now and then you don't need to worry; the institution will pay it and you'll be charged their standard NSF fee.
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