KeyBank, one of the oldest and largest banks operating in the United States, announced plans to eliminate non-sufficient funds (NSF) fees and to reduce overdraft fees starting later this year. The changes that will go into effect include the following:

  • Completely eliminating non-sufficient fund fees
  • Increasing its threshold for overdraft fees to $20
    • This means that customers won’t incur overdraft fees unless their accounts get overdrawn by more than $20
    • Previously the threshold was $0
  • Reducing the overdraft charge per item to $20 (previously was $33)
  • Instituting a maximum number of overdraft charges per day of 3
  • Provision of $0 overdraft protection for all linked accounts

In addition to these changes, KeyBank is also introducing products to help its customers expand their access to liquidity and better control their finances. These products include allowing customers to get their paycheck up to two days early, granting customers immediate access to funds that are deposited by mobile and a new small dollar lending product.

KeyBank currently offers the Hassle-Free Account, which has no minimum balance requirement, no monthly maintenance fees and no overdraft fees. In its release the bank revealed that 20% of its consumer checking customers were enrolled in this account. For the time being nothing is changing in how the bank’s products work and in the fees it charges customers. As these announced changes come into effect the bank will notify its customers.