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After several months of planning, the $1.2 billion Alexandria, Va.-based U.S. Senate Federal Credit Union (USSFCU) announced Monday it had officially eliminated its overdraft and non-sufficient funds (NSF) fees.
During a year-end strategic planning session last September, USSFCU said its leadership and board of directors unanimously agreed that members should no longer pay these fees. According to USSFCU, its 51,290 members no longer could incur those fees as of April 17.
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"We made a commitment to our members that we would eliminate NSF and overdrafts fees and that is exactly what we have done," said USSFCU president/CEO Timothy Anderson. "People helping people is at the core of what we do and if eliminating this fee can help a family meet their financial needs, I am all for it."
With the elimination of the overdraft and NSF fees, USSFCU introduced its new Courtesy Pay Program (CPP) "which provides a buffer for overspending without charging a fee" and this program is available for all members in good standing with the credit union.
In February, when USSFCU announced it would drop its overdraft and NSF fees, Anderson said, "At USSFCU, we have always been about what is best for our members, and we never want to lose sight of that. At the end of the day, it was an easy decision. If one of our members is struggling to keep their head above water financially, we want to be a solution to help and not add to their burden."
Research by a number of groups, including Filene Research Institute in Madison, Wis., has shown that overdraft and NSF fees disproportionately impact Black and Hispanic members and consumers across the country.
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Michael Ogden
Editor-in-Chief at CU Times. To connect, email at [email protected]. As Editor-in-Chief of CU Times since 2016, Michael Ogden has led the editorial team in all aspects of content strategy and execution, including the creation of the publication’s exclusive and proprietary research database of the credit union industry’s economic landscape. Under Michael’s leadership, CU Times has successfully shifted to an all-digital editorial product with new focuses on the payments, fraud, lending and regulatory beats. Most recently, he introduced a data-focused editorial product for subscribers that breaks down credit union issues into hard data, allowing for a deeper and more factual narrative for readers. In 2024, he launched the "Shared Accounts With CU Times" podcast, which offers a fresh, inside-the-newsroom perspective through interviews with leaders from the credit union industry and the regulatory world. He dives into pressing credit union issues, while revealing the personalities working behind-the-scenes to push the credit union world forward. His background includes years as a radio and TV anchor/reporter and a public relations and digital/social media manager, where he covered the food and music industries, as well as cooperatives and credit unions. Over the years, he has launched numerous exclusive video and podcast series, including a successful series of interactive backstage interviews with musicians at music festivals, showcasing his social media and live streaming production skills.
