My bank rep informed me when I got my first debit card that I could not decline overdraft protection? Is this true? They said that they would not stop my card if I had insufficient funds and would cover overdrafts to $1000, since my "matrix allowance" was in excess of that. What's going on?
Some banks are more aggressive in their marketing of overdraft protection than others. It appears that your bank is one of those that is pushing the product.
It appears you have two choices. One is to accept the overdraft protection, knowing that it only "kicks in" if you overdraw your account. That will require you to keep an accurate checkbook balance if you want to avoid those fees, particularly since debit card transactions won't be rejected when you're using the bank's money instead of your own. In other words, the bank can make you accept overdraft protection, but they cannot make you use it.
Your second choice is to take your business to a different bank, where overdraft protection isn't forced upon you (or simply isn't available). Even here, of course, the bank could decide to honor an overdraft, but debit card and ATM transactions would be rejected if they would overdraw the account.
Only you can decide which choice is better for you. You know how accurately you keep your account records and whether you're likely to slip up and go overdrawn once in a while. You alone know whether the $1000 cushion your bank has mentioned will be too tempting to resist. Unless you sign a line of credit (which the bank doesn't appear to be offering you here), don't take the bank's overdraft protection as a promise that the bank will honor overdrafts. One of the key features of these programs is that the bank will always have the option to pay or return any particular check.
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Some banks are more aggressive in their marketing of overdraft protection than others. It appears that your bank is one of those that is pushing the product. 