The bank charged me $198 for NSFfees on my checking account. It was for six items. Four of them had already been pending and were deducted from my balance. My available balance was only low for two items. Why did they charge me for all of the rest when they had already been deducted from my balance?
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This sounds like a payment order issue. Many banks take all the checks that come in for payment in a day and pay the larger items first. The idea is that your mortgage payment is usually larger and you'd want that paid first.
Here is an example:
+$500 - Opening balance in your account
-$400 - check 1
-$150 - check 2
-$100 - check 3
-$150 - ending balance.
In the sequence above both checks 2 and 3 will be charged an overdraft fee. If the bank paid smaller items first, only check 1 would be unpaid and incur a fee. You can see that if there were more small items, the fees grow with each.
Ask your bank if they pay larger items first. Some also pay checks in check number order, or the order they are presented. Unless your state laws require it, payment order is not something that must be disclosed.
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This sounds like a payment order issue. Many banks take all the 