'Robin Hood' Banker Draws Cheers From Angry Overdraft Payers
Some recognize the woman's crime but say her heart was in the right place.
Nov. 26, 2009 — -- A German banker dubbed "Die Robin Hood Bankerin" for stealing money from rich clients to save poorer customers from overdrawing their accounts is being cheered by some Americans fed up with overdraft fees in this country.
"She's definitely in the wrong for doing that but, at the same time, the old putting-it-to-the-man mentality is good to see," said Craig Kear, 50, a Kansas City man who estimates he has paid nearly $3,000 in overdraft fees in the past two years.
Others agreed. "I wish she had found my bank account," joked Kelley Jackson, 46, of Atlanta, who once faced $700 in overdraft fees in one month. The banker, Jackson said, shouldn't have committed the crime but "her heart was in the right place.
"She saw an injustice," she said.
The banker, according to the British newspaper the Guardian, admitted this week to moving more than $11 million from the accounts of rich clients to those of poorer ones through 117 transfers. The bank's rich clients reportedly hadn't touched their accounts in years.
A German court in Bonn, where the woman's bank branch is located, granted the woman a 22-month suspended sentence, meaning that she won't spend time in jail.
"The accused hasn't put one cent in her own pocket," the banker's lawyer, Thomas Ohm, told the newspaper. "She did it purely out of sympathy with people who were suffering financially."
The bank customers that benefited from the woman's actions repaid the money transferred to their accounts but not completely, leading the bank to a loss of more than $1.5 million, the BBC reported. The woman, who was not named in most news reports, has begun reimbursing the bank through her pension.
In Germany, as in the United States, overdraft charges have been a source of consternation for bank customers. Unlike in the United States, however, where banks typically charge flat fees per overdraft, German bank customers must often pay double-digit interest on the amount that they've overdrawn.
Overdraft Policies Change in the U.S.
U.S. bank consumers such as Jackson say they're happy that at least some progress has been made here to curb overdraft fees.
Earlier this month, the Federal Reserve announced new rules that would ban banks from charging overdraft fees on debit card and ATM transactions unless a consumer opts in to an overdraft program. The rules do not apply to checks, which can still trigger overdraft fees. The changes will go into effect July 1.
Major U.S. banks have recently announced new policies to curb overdraft fees. They include allowing customers to decide whether they would prefer to have charges rejected instead of incurring overdraft fees (Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and U.S. Bank), eliminating overdraft fees if the overdrawn amount is less than $5 (Chase, Wells Fargo) or $10 (Bank of America and U.S. Bank), and limiting the daily maximum number of overdraft fees to three (Chase, U.S. Bank) or four (Bank of America).
Jackson, a new customer with Chase, said she was thrilled when the bank rejected her debit card purchase instead of charging her an overdraft fee.
"They actually declined my point of sale purchase because I did not have the money in my account," she said.
"I've never been so happy in my life."