Whitney to Pay $6.8 Million to Settle Overdraft Suit

Hancock Holding Co.'s Whitney Bank has become the latest bank to settle a lawsuit relating to its overdraft practices.

In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Wednesday, Hancock's chief financial officer, Michael M. Achary, said that Whitney agreed to pay $6.8 million to exit a class-action lawsuit without admitting wrongdoing. The agreement still requires approval from a federal judge in U.S District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

Whitney was acquired by Gulfport, Miss.-based Hancock last year.

Like other banks in the class-action, Whitney was accused of processing debit-card transactions from the highest amount to the lowest in order to trigger more overdrafts and, in turn, generate more fees.

A number of other banks have reached settlements in the case. JPMorgan Chase & Co. this month came to a tentative agreement to pay $110 million to exit the class-action and a judge this month approved Bank of Hawaii Corp.'s plan to pay a $9 million settlement. Bank of America Corp., Associated Banc-Corp in Green Bay, Wis., and Iberiabank Corp. in Lafayette, La., have also reached multi-million-dollar settlements in recent months.