New York, NY: HSBC Bank is facing a class action lawsuit over allegations of deceptive business practices relating to its overdraft fees. The lawsuit claims that HSBC overdrafts are "specifically designed to maximize the generation of overdraft fees." The lawsuit also alleges that HSBC failed to communicate to customers that they can opt out of its overdraft program.
Filed by lead plaintiff Darek Jura, the lawsuit claims specifically that HSBC manipulates all debit transactions on customer statements to list from largest to smallest which effectively induces overdraft fees. The class action lawsuit further accuses HSBC of violating Federal Reserve System rules that require banks to notify customers when they are about to incur overdraft fees. Jura alleges that HSBC' overdraft fee system caused him to incur overdraft fees even when there were sufficient funds in his checking account to avoid becoming overdrawn. Further, Jura alleges he was not notified by HSBC when he made debit card transactions that would result in his incurring overdraft fees.
"HSBC's overdraft policies make it difficult for a customer to avoid injury even if a customer carefully tracks the balance in his or her account,"the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit, entitled Darek Jura v. HSBC Bank USA NA et al., Case No. 12-cv-06224, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, is brought on behalf of all HSBC customers in the US who have incurred an overdraft fee as a result of HSBC' alleged practice of resequencing debit card transactions.
Plaintiffs are represented by Rigrodsky & Long PA and Cohen Law Group PC.
