LAKE BLUFF, Ill. — Credit unions continue to inch closer to what banks are charging for overdrafts.
CUs increased their median overdraft price to $28.50 this year, up 50 cents from 2013, according to a study of fees in June by Moebs $ervices Inc., an economic research firm here.
Banks' median pricing remained stable at $30.
CUs have steadily increased overdraft pricing since 2012, when they boosted their median price to $27, from $25 in 2011.
The traditional consumer view that banks boost their overdraft fees while CUs lower them is fading, according to the Moebs study of 2,807 depositories.
CUs in the latest study maintained a $1.50 difference with banks and thrifts between 2013-14, a statistical difference, the report showed.
Since the start of the Great Recession in 2009, overdraft prices have increased 15% per year, according to the report.
For the past five years, bank overdraft prices have been stable, with CUs in the past three years accounting for 14% of the rise.
In the past year, 79.8% of all financial institutions didn't change their overdraft prices, maintaining a median fee of $30, while 16%, comprising an equal distribution of banks, thrifts and CUs, increased their price, according to the study.
Of those that boosted prices, the median fee rose to $32, from $29.
Financial institutions that increased prices are penalizing the consumer for overdrawing, according to the Moebs study.
By contrast, financial institutions that decreased prices reduced by $5, from a median price of $33 in 2013, to $28 this year.This group reflects an equal distribution of banks, thrifts and CUs.
A small group of price reducers cut fees almost in half, becoming the lowest overdraft prices in their market, even lower than payday lenders, according to the study.
Financial institutions with more than $10 billion in assets have a $35 median overdraft fee, 40% higher than institutions with less than $100 million in assets.
