LITTLE ROCK, Ark.—Arkansas Federal Credit Union is the latest CU to face a class-action lawsuit over overdraft practices, with a new complaint alleging the institution improperly charged fees on debit-card transactions that were authorized with sufficient funds, as well as on ATM and one-time debit transactions, Top Class Actions reported.
The suit also claims the credit union assessed multiple fees on items that were only presented for payment once.
Filed by plaintiff Amanda Mosley, the complaint asserts the $2.8-billion Arkansas Federal breached its contract and duty of good faith and fair dealing, unjustly enriching itself at members’ expense. Mosley further argues the credit union violated the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act and the federal Electronic Fund Transfers Act, Top Class Actions said.
The case adds to a growing wave of overdraft-related litigation targeting credit unions and banks nationwide.
“Defendant’s improper scheme to extract funds from account holders has victimized Plaintiff and hundreds of other similarly situated consumers,” the Arkansas Federal Credit Union class action lawsuit says.
According to Top Class Actions, Mosley claims Arkansas FCU charged her $70 in fees on an item she only presented for payment once.
“Plaintiff understood each payment to be a single item as is laid out in Defendant’s account documents, capable of receiving, at most, a single [non-sufficient funds] fee (if Defendant returned it) or a single overdraft fee (if Defendant paid it) so long as Plaintiff did not re-present the item for payment,” the Arkansas Federal Credit Union class action lawsuit says.