Yes, we recommend providing notice each time you assess an overdraft fee. The 2005 Joint Guidance on Overdraft Protection Programs suggests as a best practice that banks “promptly notify consumers when overdraft protection has been accessed. . . .” The FDIC has incorporated that guidance into its Compliance Examination Manual, which requires examiners to review whether a bank “promptly notifies customers each time an overdraft payment program has been accessed.”

Of course, you also should ensure that customers have opted-in to overdraft fees for electronic fund transfers, as required by Regulation E.

For resources related to our guidance, please see:

• Joint Guidance on Overdraft Protection Programs, 70 Fed. Reg. 9127, 9132 (February 24, 2005) (“Promptly notify consumers of overdraft protection program usage each time used. Promptly notify consumers when overdraft protection has been accessed, for example, by sending a notice to consumers the day the overdraft protection program has been accessed. The notification should identify the date of the transaction, the type of transaction, the overdraft amount, the fee associated with the overdraft, the amount necessary to return the account to a positive balance, the amount of time consumers have to return their accounts to a positive balance, and the consequences of not returning the account to a positive balance within the given timeframe. . . .”)

• FDIC Compliance Examination Manual, Lending Section, Overdraft Payment Programs, page 13.8 (“The institution promptly notifies customers each time an overdraft payment program has been accessed. The notice identifies the date of the transaction, type of transaction, item amount, overdraft amount, fee imposed, amount necessary to return the account to a positive balance, amount of time the customer has to return the account to a positive balance, and the consequences of not returning the account to a positive balance within that time period. . . .”)