Recently the FDIC released a detailed report on overdraft fees and banking practices in this country and the findings are surprising.

Before we delve into the report and my thoughts on the matter, here's a hypothetical question. If a credit card company approached you and said you can borrow $20 right now, right this very second, but the APR is going to be 3,000 percent. How many of you would say yes?
The short and only answer is no one.

Unfortunately, when you pay banks a fee for the $4 you overdrew purchasing your morning's latte you are in effect shaking on the proposed deal.

This is one of the many startling figures highlighted in the FDIC report.

These days it is becoming increasingly apparent to me that the banking industry really doesn't value transparency with its clients - at least not more than its amplified revenue streams. In institutions the FDIC examined for its report, overdraft fees provided $1.97 billion in earnings.

Our concern is the average consumer does not know about the different overdraft programs at their bank and cannot feasibly protect themselves from potential schemes.

Take a good look at the demographic these overdraft programs affect -- low-income and young consumers. This group is traditionally composed of repeat offenders. What is truly unsavory in my opinion is that these banks will target repeat offenders time after time for overdraft fees that they can ill afford.

Even more frustrating is that the report indicates 81 percent of banks operating automated overdraft programs allow overdrafts to take place at ATMs and at point-of-sale locations or through debit transactions. Most of these banks only notify customers of insufficient funds after the transaction is already done. Now you, the customer, are overdrawn and owe the bank $27, on average.

To add insult to injury, the bank knew you didn't have the money but wanted the fee, so they let the transaction process.

In what world is this right?

The good news is we can fight back. In October, we filed a class-action lawsuit against Wells Fargo. The suit claims the bank's systematic practice of re-sequencing electronic debit transactions results in excessive overdraft fees to customers.

Here's what that means:

Let's say Bob goes to the grocery story and spends $4.79 on a gallon of milk. His account only has $5.00 remaining after the transaction, but he hasn't overdrawn - good job, Bob.

Bob has two more errands to run - he spends $10 at lunch and then buys some dog food for $17. We see this as Bob made one purchase, which overdrew his account and another when he was already in the red.

What some banks are doing, and we claim Wells Fargo is one of them, is ordering those purchase from greatest to least. Bob had less than $10 in his account at the start of the day. His bank is sequencing his purchases as $17, $10 and $4.79 - that makes three overdraft fees, when in reality it was two.

Multiply this by millions of customers nationwide and you have exponential profit for the bank. The sequencing tactic is one issue included among many in the FDIC report.

While we don't think this issue is going away anytime soon, at Hagens Berman, we'll continue to fight for the consumer. Visit this blog for updates on the FDIC report and our lawsuit.

I encourage you to leave a few comments for us on the report, overdraft fees and what's making you upset.