CNB Bank faces a proposed class action over its alleged practice of charging $32 overdraft fees to customers whose accounts contain sufficient funds to cover individual transactions.
In a complaint filed June 15 in Cook County Circuit Court, Sandra Neumann, on behalf of herself and others, accuses CNB Bank & Trust (CNB) of allegedly breaching the terms of its customer account agreement through improper assessment of overdraft and ATM fees.
According to the lawsuit, CNB is accused of routinely breaching its customer account agreement terms as they apply to overdraft fees. Specifically, CNB's terms state that overdraft fees will only be assessed when there are not sufficient funds to cover a transaction. The complaint contends that CNB is charging improper overdraft fees on accounts where funds are available to cover a given transaction, and allegedly misleading consumers with their ATM fee structure..
CNB has historically charged overdraft fees on what they coined as an "Authorize Positive, Settle Negative" transactions (APSN). In the suit, these transactions result from a customer completing a transaction when there is an available balance that subsequently proceeds with a second transaction which, after completed, leaves the account in a negative balance, thus generating the overdraft fees.
Plaintiffs are contending that CNB is essentially allegedly double-dipping by holding funds in reserve, while allegedly also charging overdraft fees on APSN transactions.
The suit is also accusing CNB of excessive ATM fees by allegedly assessing a separate ATM fee when a customer is making multiple transactions, specifically in regards to balance inquiries in connection with a withdrawal transaction. The claim alleges that typically, an accountholder who unsuspectingly checks the account balance as part of a cash withdrawal transaction at an out of network ATM machine could expect to pay multiple fees to the tune of between $4.00 and $6.00 in fees on a typical $20 transaction.
With excessive fees becoming a growing trend in the banking industry, critics contend these fees are assessed disproportionately, allegedly hitting low income, young or minority customers. They have become an increasing topic of recent litigation on similar complaints against BofA, Wells Fargo, Ally, and Alliant. Most recently, Ally Bank announced their plans to eliminate overdraft fees altogether.
Plaintiffs are demanding a trial by jury, restitution of alleged improperly charged fees, court costs and legal fees.
Plaintiffs are represented by attorneys David Cates, Katie E. St. John, of the Cates Law Firm, of Swansea; Christopher D. Jennings, Tyler B. Ewigleben, of the Johnson Firm, of Little Rock, Arkansas; and Amanda J. Rosenberg, Jeffrey D. Kaliel, and Sophia G. Gold, of Kalielgold PLLC, of Washington, D.C.