How Many Overdraft Fees Can Be Charged in a Day?

There is no federal law that limits how many overdraft fees can be charged in a day, so the answer depends on your bank. Most banks and credit unions set an internal cap somewhere between three and six fees per day, though some stop at one and others set no cap at all. With per-transaction fees averaging roughly $27 to $35, hitting a daily maximum can mean $80 to $210 in charges from a single bad day. Your deposit agreement and overdraft disclosure are the only reliable places to find your specific limit.

Where Your Daily Cap Comes From

Each bank decides its own daily maximum. Three to six fees is the most common range, but the number is set by policy, not by regulation. Banks are required to disclose that maximum, or the fact that there isn’t one, in the overdraft notice they give you when you open an account or opt in to overdraft coverage.¹

The size of each fee varies too. A 2024 Consumer Financial Protection Bureau review found that more than half of banks with over $10 billion in assets charged $35 per overdraft, with an industry average around $32.50.² Competitive pressure has pulled the average lower at some institutions, with 2025 surveys putting it closer to $27, but banks that haven’t changed their policies still charge $30 to $37 per transaction.

You may be wondering whether a federal cap is on the way. In late 2024, the CFPB finalized a rule that would have capped overdraft fees at $5 at banks and credit unions with more than $10 billion in assets. Congress disapproved that rule under the Congressional Review Act, and the President signed the resolution in May 2025. The rule never took effect.³ For now, the number of fees you can be charged in a day remains entirely a matter of your bank’s internal policy.

How to Bring Your Debit Card and ATM Fees to Zero

Federal law does give you one clear way to shrink your daily fee count. Under Regulation E, a bank cannot charge an overdraft fee on a one-time debit card purchase or ATM withdrawal unless you have affirmatively opted in to overdraft coverage. Without your consent on file, the bank must decline the transaction when your balance is too low. No fee, no negative balance.⁴

The opt-in notice must be presented separately from your other account documents, and the bank must confirm your consent in writing or electronically. If a bank charges you an overdraft fee on a one-time debit or ATM transaction without a valid opt-in, it is violating federal rules.⁵ You can revoke your opt-in at any time, and the bank must implement the revocation as soon as reasonably practicable.¹

The protection has limits. Opt-in rules do not apply to recurring debit transactions like a monthly subscription or to ACH payments like an automatic utility bill. Those can still trigger overdraft fees whether or not you have opted in.⁶ Checks written against insufficient funds also fall outside the opt-in protection.

How a Single Day Can Multiply

Your daily cap on overdraft fees may not be the only category of fee in play. When a transaction hits your account with insufficient funds, your bank either covers it and charges an overdraft fee or rejects it and charges a non-sufficient funds (NSF) fee. If your bank uses both, the daily cap for each category may run separately, so overdraft fees on covered transactions and NSF fees on declined ones can stack in the same day.

NSF fees have generally dropped faster than overdraft fees. Many banks now average around $17 for a returned item, compared to roughly $27 or more for an overdraft, and some have eliminated NSF fees entirely.

Re-Presented Transactions

A single bounced check or ACH payment can also generate more than one fee if the merchant or processor submits it more than once. When a transaction is declined and then re-presented a day or two later, some banks treat each attempt as a new transaction and charge a new NSF fee. The FDIC has warned that charging multiple fees for re-presented items without clear disclosure may violate federal consumer protection rules.⁷ Some banks have responded by charging only one fee per transaction no matter how many times it is submitted, but others have not.

Thresholds and Grace Periods That Skip the Fee

Many banks waive the overdraft fee when the overdraft is small. These de minimis thresholds vary. Some institutions waive the fee only when the overdraft is $5 or less, while others have raised the cushion to $50 or more.² Whether the threshold applies per transaction or to the total end-of-day balance depends on the bank.

Some banks also offer a grace period, giving you until a set time the next business day to deposit enough money to bring your balance back to zero before the fee is assessed.² If you catch the overdraft quickly, the fee disappears. Not every bank offers this, and the specific deadline varies.

Fees That Keep Running After the Day Ends

Even once the daily cap is reached, your bank may keep charging fees as long as your balance stays negative. These sustained overdraft fees, sometimes called extended or continuous overdraft fees, are triggered by time rather than by new transactions. A common structure is a flat charge assessed every five business days the account remains overdrawn.¹ The FDIC notes that some banks charge these fees daily rather than in five-day intervals.⁸

These recurring charges compound a small initial overdraft quickly. If you overdrew by $30 and your bank charges a $35 overdraft fee plus $15 every five days, after two weeks you could owe more than $95 on top of the original $30 shortfall. Most banks cap extended fees at some monthly maximum, but the specifics are set by each institution.

What Happens If You Don’t Repay

If you leave a negative balance unresolved, the consequences escalate. The bank continues adding sustained overdraft fees. After a period, often 30 to 60 days, the bank may close the account and sell or assign the debt to a collection agency. Once a collector creates an account for the unpaid balance, it can appear on your credit report as a delinquency and remain there for seven years.

Separately, your bank may report the closed account to ChexSystems, a specialty consumer reporting agency most banks check when someone applies for a new deposit account. A negative ChexSystems record stays on file for five years from the date the account was closed and can lead other banks to deny your application for a new checking or savings account during that time.⁹ The overdraft itself does not appear on a standard credit report, but once it reaches collections, it can affect both your credit score and your ability to open a bank account.

Ways to Limit Your Exposure

The most effective step is to opt out of overdraft coverage for debit card and ATM transactions. Without opt-in consent, your bank must decline those transactions rather than approve them for a fee.⁴ A few other strategies help:

Link a savings account. Many banks offer free or low-cost overdraft transfers from savings when your checking balance drops below zero.
Set up low-balance alerts in your banking app so you can transfer money or pause spending before transactions post.
Switch to a bank that has eliminated overdraft fees. Several banks and credit unions now charge no overdraft fees at all, and some offer small fee-free overdraft cushions of $50 to $250 for eligible customers.
Ask for a waiver. CFPB research found that consumers were often able to get at least one fee waived per incident, especially with a history of responsible account management or an in-person branch visit. If the first representative cannot help, ask for a manager.¹⁰
Apply for an overdraft line of credit. Some banks offer a small credit line that covers overdrafts at a low interest rate instead of a flat fee.

Whichever approach you take, start with your bank’s overdraft disclosure. That document is where your daily fee cap, de minimis threshold, grace period if any, and both standard and extended fee amounts are spelled out. All of them vary from one institution to the next, and all of them determine how bad a single day can get.

1
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 12 CFR Part 1005 (Regulation E) – Section 1005.17 Requirements for Overdraft Services
2
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Overdraft Lending: Very Large Financial Institutions
3
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Overdraft Lending: Very Large Financial Institutions
4
eCFR. 12 CFR Part 1005 — Electronic Fund Transfers (Regulation E)
5
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. CFPB Takes Action to Stop Banks from Harvesting Overdraft Fees Without Consumers’ Consent
6
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Consumer Financial Protection Circular 2024-05 – Improper Overdraft Opt-In Practices
7
FDIC.gov. Supervisory Guidance on Multiple Re-Presentment NSF Fees
8
FDIC.gov. Overdraft and Account Fees
9
ChexSystems. ChexSystems Frequently Asked Questions
10
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Data Spotlight: Consumer Experiences With Overdraft Programs