Overdraft Outrage: Readers Blast Back

Does overdrawing my checking account mean that I'm a lazy, inept financial manager or an otherwise responsible account holder who just dropped the ball?

It depends on whom you ask.

A recent column about the sting of $170 in fees arising from my overdrawn checking account -- and my call for legislation that would require banks to notify their customers of overdrafts electronically, instead of via snail mail -- certainly caught readers' attention.

In the column, I said I was perturbed by the practice of assessing overdraft fees against nominal debit purchases, such as an $11 Dunkin' Donuts transaction, which, it seems, could be easily blocked when an account is overdrawn. ...