CAMDEN – TD Bank lost a round in a lawsuit over their ATM fees.
A federal judge last week declined to dismiss a class action lawsuit alleging TD overcharging its customers using ATMs outside the banking network.
The lawsuit challenges a TD policy that charges two fees of $ 3 each for customers checking their account balance while withdrawing money from an off-network ATM.
She estimates improper fees could exceed $ 500 million.
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In a ruling on Thursday, US District Judge Robert Kugler said the lawsuit had “compelling” arguments that the language in TD’s contract with ATM users was ambiguous.
This enabled the claim’s breach of contract to outlast TD’s motion to dismiss.
TD client attorneys claim the wording allows the bank to only charge a single $ 3 fee for each withdrawal outside the network, the Kugler decision said.
In contrast, according to the Camden judge, TD claims that its account agreements and fee schedule “expressly approve and conspicuously disclose” multiple fees.
The dispute “could amount to a disagreement over the interpretation of the word ‘anyone’ in the fee schedule,” said Kugler.
According to TD, “each” means a fee that is incurred for “each of” a customer’s transactions at an ATM outside the network, the ruling said.
However, the lawsuit alleges that the contract “promises that TD Bank will charge a single (off-network) fee … even if an account holder has multiple functions when using an ATM.”
The lawsuit also argues that a balance query “in particular one that is carried out in connection with a cash withdrawal is not reasonably understood as a separate, chargeable event”.
And it notes that prior to changing its fee schedule last year, TD “never disclosed that it could or would charge $ 6 or more for a single 30-second ATM cash withdrawal.” (sic)
Customers typically pay a third, separate fee of $ 3 to the operator of the off-grid AT
Attorneys from TD and the proposed group of bank clients did not respond to requests for comment.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of two New Yorkers who opposed being billed for balance inquiries on transactions in 2014 and 2016. It is supposed to represent all TD customers who have received two exit fees from the bank in Cherry Hill – Network ATM withdrawal.
TD, which has more than 1,100 offices on the east coast, does not charge customers for transactions at the bank’s ATMs.
Jim Walsh reports on public safety, economic development, and other topics for the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times, and The Daily Journal.
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