This is the amount all U.S. Banks charged in overdraft fees in 2009, according to Harper's. $38,900,000,000. Having had a good deal of personal experience with overdraft fees, I would wager that most of that figure is just plain robbery of the poor by the rich. Many fees simply don't need to be assessed and only seem intended to add to bank profit.

For example, when a checking account is overdrawn, it would seem reasonable that the debit card associated with that account would be declined in an attempted transaction. This would be a false assumption. Instead, banks charge you at least $30 per transaction for their overdraft "service" to cover the transaction cost. While this kind of service makes a good deal of sense to cover checks, it seems plainly ridiculous to extend for debit card use.

We recently experienced this very thing firsthand. A large automatic transaction posted to our account sooner than expected while we were on a trip. As I am not in the habit of checking our bank account daily, I didn't realize this payment had been deducted. Over the course of one day, we purchased several small things (coffee, parking, lunch, etc.) while our account was overdrawn. When we returned, I discovered that we had been assessed a whopping $420 in fees, almost all of which were debit card transactions that could have easily been declined at the point of sale--which would have also informed me that our account was overdrawn.

Now, I've heard the argument about how these fees are intended to promote responsibility. Sure, I get that. But in the end, this isn't a question of responsibility; it's a question of access to resources. Wealthy folks generally don't incur these fees because they have enough resources to keep them from overdrawing. This doesn't mean they're more responsible; it simply means they have more money.

Unfortunately, most people who are assessed these fees are living paycheck to paycheck, trying to work out of low income or high debt situations. In the end, then, overdraft fees are only charged to the people who can least afford them. These folks aren't necessarily irresponsible, they just don't have enough resources; if they had enough money, they wouldn't be overdrawing their accounts. And it would help if banks were more honest about assessing fees.

Thankfully, Kirstin and I are in a position to recover from our recent "gift" to our bank (though not happily). For many in more precarious situations, though, this kind of thing serves only to keep them on the edge financially or, worse, sink them entirely. And that just seems like unjust policy to me. At the very least, banks should have smarter and less predatory policies for debit card transactions.

Okay. End of rant.