Business
Wintrust Ends Overdraft and Item Return Fees for Consumer Clients
ROSEMONT, Ill., March 01, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Wintrust Financial Corporation (“Wintrust”) today announced that all overdraft and item return fees will
About this update from Wintrust Financial Corporation
[{"type":"text","content":"ROSEMONT, Ill., March 01, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Wintrust Financial Corporation (“Wintrust”) today announced that all overdraft and item return fees will end effective March 1, 2023 for consumer deposit accounts at each of its community banks. Business accounts will remain under the existing overdraft and item return fee structure. Timothy S. Crane, President of Wintrust, said: “Given the number of ways to engage customers through technology, the industry continues to move toward the use of financial education and notifications and away from account fees. In this light – rather than reduce or modify our fees as other peers have done – we made the decision to completely eliminate all overdraft and item return fees on consumer banking accounts. With real-time notifications and other tools accessible 24/7, we have seen a decrease in overdrafts and item returns as our customers can remedy those situations before they occur. And we believe that eliminating these charges altogether and working with our consumer banking clients when low balances occur will strengthen our relationships with them.” Wintrust’s new overdraft and item return structure for consumer accounts: Effective March 1, 2023 Eliminate the overdraft per item paid fee for consumer accountsEliminate the per item return fee for consumer accountsNo longer authorize ATM and POS transactions that would result in a negative account balance at the time of authorization Changes to be implemented later in 2023 At no cost, Wintrust consumer customers who have direct deposit to a Wintrust checking, savings, or money market account may receive qualifying payroll and government direct deposits up to two days early In addition, consumers can manage their accounts with the following existing features to avoid overdrafts and item returns: Internal transfers for no chargeAccess to other banks’ ATMs for no charge on many consumer accountsNotifications if balance is running low via online/mobile bankingFinancial education resources and tools designed to help mitigate overdraft and item returns: Notifications to customers when an overdraft occurs that provide tips for managing their accounts to help avoid future overdraftsOffers of financial education servicesReminders to customers to set up alerts via online banking/mobileOffers on alternative overdraft protection including transfers am...