Banks waive fees for Hurricane Sandy

Many banks have sent email messages to customers in hurricane affected areas waiving fees and extending payment dates. If you haven’t received these communications, then you should call your banks, and visit their websites, to find out these policies. To give you an idea of what they’re doing, I’ve included a few excerpts from banks that have contacted DebtSmart.com.

This list is not complete and only represents a sample of what may be offered. To find out complete information about these, or any bank, you must contact them directly.

HSBC

If you have been impacted by the storm, HSBC will waive the following fees incurred between Sunday October 28, 2012 and at least until Monday November 5, 2012.

• Fees for non-sufficient or unavailable funds on checking products
• Overdraft transaction fees for Select Credit and credit card accounts
• Fees incurred by using Non-HSBC ATMs in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Washington DC, and Virginia
• Late Payment for credit products

Wells Fargo

To further aid those of you impacted by the hurricane, Wells Fargo is doing the following:

• We have extended to Saturday, Nov. 3, our fee waiver for the fees we normally charge customers for using another bank’s ATM. This fee waiver applies in the storm-affected states of New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia.
• Additionally, we are continuing to waive late fees on credit cards, certain small business and consumer loans, including home-equity, auto and student loans until Saturday, Nov 3. This waiver applies to the states mentioned above, as well as New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and West Virginia.
• We have expanded Wells Fargo Mobile® deposit service beyond New York, Connecticut and Virginia to include customers in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Washington D.C. Using this service, you can deposit most checks directly into your eligible Wells Fargo checking or savings account using the Wells Fargo Mobile App supported on Apple and Android devices.

PNC

If you are a PNC customer who has had to use a non-PNC ATM due to Hurricane Sandy, we will automatically refund your ATM surcharges and foreign ATM fees incurred from Oct. 29, 2012 through Nov. 2, 2012 for customer accounts located in the Carolinas, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York City, Central and Eastern Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington D.C.

In addition, for customers in these impacted markets, we will proactively waive Overdraft (OD), Returned Item (NSF), Continuous Overdraft and Overdraft Protection Transfer Fees incurred during this difficult time through Nov. 5, 2012. If your account becomes overdrawn during these few days, please remember to make a deposit to cover your shortfall by end of day Monday (Nov. 5, 2012) to avoid fees.

Bank of America

We’re here to help in any way we can, one customer at a time. If you or someone you know was affected by severe storms and floods, our Customer Assistance Program can help. You may qualify to:

• Receive credit line increases on your existing Bank of America Visa® card and MasterCard®.
• Modify or extend payments on loans, credit cards or lines of credit.
• Receive special assistance with lost, missing or late loan or card payments.
• Avoid early withdrawal penalties on bank certificates of deposit (CDs).
• Receive a refund on any overdraft, non-sufficient funds (NSF) and non-Bank of America ATM fees incurred as a result of storm conditions.

Chase

Earlier this week, we announced we will waive or automatically refund a number of fees through October 31st for our customers in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and the District of Columbia. As the storm cleanup continues, we are extending those waivers through Thursday, November 1st, and to customers in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. Those fees include:

• Overdraft Protection Transfer, Extended Overdraft, Returned Item and Insufficient Funds Fees for deposit accounts.
• Late fees on credit cards, business and consumer loans, including mortgages, home-equity, auto and student loans.

Citibank

Please know for Citibank clients, proactive waivers will be applied to the following fees through at least November 5, 2012:

• Overdraft protection;
• Non sufficient funds;
• Late payment for credit products;
• Wiring funds to affected Citi customers; and
• Early CD withdrawal for recovery use.