It can happen to anyone: You may eventually find yourself with a negative balance in your bank account from overspending.
When a transaction exceeds your available balance 1 , the bank may choose to cover that transaction for you. This leaves you with a negative balance and is known as an overdraft.
Overdrafts occur when you spend more money than you have available in your checking account and the bank pays your transaction. The bank, at its discretion, may authorize and pay overdrafts for checks, automatic bill payments (such as recurring debit card and ACH payments) and other transactions made using your checking account number.
Wells Fargo will not authorize your ATM and everyday (one-time) debit card transactions into overdraft unless you ask us to by adding Debit Card Overdraft Service 2 to your account. If you add the optional Debit Card Overdraft Service to your checking account, the bank may approve (at our discretion) these transactions if you don’t have enough available money in your checking account or accounts linked for Overdraft Protection at the time of the transaction.
If you do overdraft, we will charge you a fee of $35 each time we pay an overdraft item to your account 3 , with a limit of three fees per day.
There are precautions you can take to prevent overdrafts and avoid fees. The easiest approach? Keep a budget, track your spending, and don’t spend more than you have available.
But still, sometimes overdrafts happen, even when you closely monitor your money. For example, you could accidentally set up an automatic payment and schedule it before funds from a check you deposited are available in your account. Here are some tips to help avoid overdrafting.
If possible, try to time bill payments to be after paydays, or when you’ll expect to see money in your account. You may also be able to adjust your bill due dates: Many lenders will let you change what day of the month your payment is due. For example, if you know you get paid consistently on the 15th of the month but your car payment is due on the 14th, give your lender a call and ask for the due date to be pushed to the 16th of each month.
If you get paid every Friday, it’s pretty easy to track. But if you have an inconsistent paycheck, or your paycheck will be delayed due to a holiday, you may go a couple of weeks without pay (and your balance may get a little low).
Have your payroll or benefit checks automatically deposited into your account — it is safe, easy, and you will have immediate access to your money.
With our online banking and Wells Fargo Mobile® app, it’s easier than ever to keep tabs on what is in your account.
This way, even if you set up automatic bill payments before your next paycheck, you may be able to avoid an overdraft.
In addition to regularly checking your account, sign up to receive low balance alerts when your account dips below a certain amount you specify, like that cash cushion, or a direct deposit alert telling you when a check has been deposited to your account. 4
Consider enrolling in optional Overdraft Protection 5 , which allows you to link your eligible Wells Fargo savings account to your checking account. Then the bank will use available funds from the linked account to authorize and pay your transactions if you don’t have enough money in your checking account.
Wells Fargo personal accounts come with our Extra Day Grace Period 6 . If you overdraw your account, Extra Day Grace Period gives you an extra business day to make deposits and avoid overdraft fees. If your available balance covers the prior business day’s overdraft items as of 11:59 PM Eastern Time, we’ll waive the associated overdraft fees 3 .
What would happen if you made a $150 purchase with your debit card when you only had $100 available to use in your Wells Fargo checking account?
The table below shows the outcome of the transaction depending on whether you have linked your savings account for Overdraft Protection or added Debit Card Overdraft Service to your account.
| When there is not enough money in my checking account to cover transactions… | …I prefer to have the transactions declined. | …I prefer to use the money in other accounts to allow the transactions. | …I prefer that the bank may approve the transactions and overdraw my account. |
|---|---|---|---|
| No overdraft services | Linked savings account for Overdraft Protection | Enrolled in Debit Card Overdraft Service | |
| Transaction is: | Declined at the time of purchase | Approved | Approved or Declined at the bank’s discretion |
| If a covering transfer or deposit 7 is made by the posted cut-off time on the same business day no transfers are made and no fees are assessed | |||
| Funds transfers 8 | None | $50 is transferred from the linked savings account (to cover the transaction) | None |
| Fees | None | None | $35 Overdraft fee charged to the checking account (unless cured during your Extra Day Grace Period) |
Help fund your future with the Scholarship Resource Center. Access resources to billions of dollars in higher education funding at our Scholarship Resource Center. Get started today.
You can customize your experience with a quick chat
Make your finances easier next school year by setting a goal to help you save more cash over the summer.
Be a time-management pro: Here are the best times of day to do seven things.
Steps you can take to help protect yourself and stay afloat.
Your money habits may not be as good — or bad — as you think. Take our quiz to see where you stand.
1 Available balance is the most current record we have about the funds that are available for your use or withdrawal. It includes all deposits and withdrawals that have been posted to your account, then adjusts for any holds on recent deposits and any pending transactions that are known to the Bank. This balance may not reflect all of your transactions, such as checks you have written or debit card transactions that have been approved but not yet submitted for payment by the merchant.
2 Debit Card Overdraft Service is an optional service that customers can add or remove at any time. It is not available for certain accounts, such as Clear Access Banking accounts and savings accounts. Debit Card Overdraft Service is offered at the discretion of Wells Fargo and may be removed by the bank at any time for a variety of reasons, including excessive overdrafts or returned items, as determined by the bank.
3 Our overdraft fee for Consumer checking accounts is $35 per item (whether the overdraft is by check, ATM withdrawal, debit card transaction, or other electronic means), and we charge no more than three overdraft fees per business day. Overdraft fees are not applicable to Clear Access Banking accounts.
Recurring debit card payments and other transactions, such as checks, ACH transactions, and other transactions using your account and routing number, may continue to be authorized into overdraft at our discretion if there isn’t enough money in the account, even if the account is not enrolled in Debit Card Overdraft Service, and our standard overdraft fees and policies will apply.
The payment of transactions into overdraft is discretionary and we reserve the right not to pay. For example, we typically do not pay overdrafts if your account is overdrawn or you have had excessive overdrafts. You must promptly bring your account to a positive balance.
4 Sign-up may be required. Availability may be affected by your mobile carrier’s coverage area. Your mobile carrier’s message and data rates may apply.
5 Subject to account eligibility requirements.
6 With Extra Day Grace Period, when your personal account is overdrawn, you have an additional business day (extra day) to make covering deposits and/or transfers to avoid the prior business day’s overdraft fees. If your account’s available balance as of 11:59 pm Eastern Time on your extra day is positive, the pending overdraft fees for the prior business day’s overdraft items will be waived. If your available balance as of 11:59 pm Eastern Time is enough to cover some, but not all, of the prior business day’s overdraft items, we’ll apply your available balance to the transactions in the order that they posted to your account. Any transactions not covered by 11:59 pm Eastern Time are subject to applicable overdraft fees. All deposits and transfers are subject to the Bank’s Availability of Funds Policy. Please see the Wells Fargo Deposit Account Agreement for more details
7 Subject to the bank’s funds availability policy. Certain pending deposits (specifically, a cash deposit or a transfer from another account) that are made after the posted cutoff time (where the deposit was made) will be included if they are made before we start our nightly process. If you make the deposit or transfer after we start our nightly process, it will not be included in the available balance that night.
8 Terms and conditions apply. Mobile carrier’s message and data rates may apply. See Wells Fargo’s Online Access Agreement for more information.
