You need to give customers 30 days advance notice under Regulation DD before you increase the amount of the overdraft fee that you charge. For example, if you are currently charging a $5.00 overdraft fee, you need to give your customers thirty days’ advance notice before you can increase the overdraft fee to $10.00. This requirement is not changed by — and is not the result of — the recent Regulation DD amendments that go into effect on July 1, 2006.

What the Regulation DD amendments do address is the way that you must describe overdraft fees in the account-opening disclosures given to new customers beginning July 1, 2006. Many banks currently describe their overdraft fees in a manner similar to the following: “We will charge you $___ for overdraft items.” As of July 1, 2006, the Regulation DD amendments require your account-opening disclosures to describe the circumstances under which you will assess an overdraft fee with greater precision. For example, if you assess an overdraft fee when a customer overdraws his or her account at an ATM, your disclosures need to reflect this practice.

Note that while banks are not required to give existing customers updated disclosures regarding the circumstances when overdraft fees will be charged, they “should consider” doing so, according to the Federal Reserve.