Overdraft fees in Phoenix area rank among the highest in nation
Oct 10, 2018, 5:24 PM
(AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
(AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
PHOENIX — When it comes to overdraft fees, Phoenix is right up there at the top of the list.
A recent study by BankRate.com found that the Phoenix metro area ranked fifth out of 25 markets in terms of average overdraft fees.
“Overdraft fees in the Phoenix area rank on the high side, in the top five among the 25 markets we looked at across the country on average,” Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at BankRate.com told KTAR News on Wednesday.
“That’s because a lot of the banks in the Valley are charging 35, 36, 38 bucks for that first overdraft.”
While the national average on the first overdraft charge is about $33 dollars — 0.5 percent lower than last year — Phoenix is skewing higher than a lot of other markets, McBride added.
With numerous banking institutions littered around the Valley, the ranking doesn’t come as a big surprise to McBride.
“The pricing varies by market and by bank and so they often price relative to the competition or just relative to what they think the market can bear,” McBride said. “There’s nothing geographically unique about Phoenix that affects that pricing, it’s more of the competitive makeup of a particular market relative to others.
“When you have a number of big players in town charging above-average fees that’s going to skew the overall market average higher.”
Philadelphia netted the highest average overdraft fee at $35.30, while San Francisco had the lowest at $31.44.
Looking at the national average for ATM fees, Phoenix tied with Minneapolis for the 12th spot at $4.66.
KTAR News’ Taylor Kinnerup contributed to this report.
