R.I. banks earn mixed overdraft grades

WASHINGTON – Six Rhode Island banks earned mixed ratings for best practices in the areas of overdraft, disclosure and dispute resolution, according to a study called “Checks and Balances: Measuring Checking Accounts’ Safety and Transparency” by The Pew Charitable Trusts.
The Rhode Island banks did better than others in the study of 36 banks across the nation, with the Ocean State’s 100 percent rating in the categories of identifying overdraft penalty fees and identifying overdraft transfer fees. That compared to Pew’s overall rating for all 36 banks of 99 percent in the overdraft penalty fee and the 94 percent in the overdraft transfer fee.
Rhode Island banks fell short in the category of having a threshold amount to trigger an overdraft with only an 11 percent rating. That compares to the overall rating 68 percent for all of the 36 U.S. banks in the study.
The Pew study looked at 18 ‘best’ and ‘good’ practices overall.
Rhode Island banks included in the study were RBS Citizens, Sovereign/Santander, Webster, TD Bank, PNC Bank and Bank of America.
The Pew Study found the six Rhode Island banks to have a ‘best’ practice adoption rate of 41 percent and a ‘good’ practice adoption rate of 56 percent.