Court to Notify Current and Former BancorpSouth Bank Customers About a Class Action Settlement Involving Overdraft Fees
EL DORADO, Ark., April 3, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- A notification program began today, as ordered by the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas (the "Court"), to alert people who have or had a bank account with BancorpSouth Bank ("BancorpSouth") about a proposed class action settlement.
The lawsuit alleges that BancorpSouth improperly assessed non-sufficient funds fees and overdraft fees for insufficient funds on debit card and check purchases and ATM withdrawals in a number of ways that were unlawful, including by "re-sequencing" transactions in order to maximize the number of non-sufficient funds fees and overdraft fees. BancorpSouth denies all of the Plaintiffs' claims and says that it did nothing wrong.
The Settlement Class includes all persons in the United States who currently have or in the past had a BancorpSouth account on which at least one non-sufficient funds fee or overdraft fee was charged and collected between May 1, 2004 through and including December 31, 2011. Each of these persons is a Settlement Class Member. In order to receive a refund of one or more overdraft fees, you must be a "Refund Eligible Class Member."
BancorpSouth will pay $1.75 million to a settlement fund and make certain overdraft practice changes. Payments to Refund Eligible Class Members may be up to three times the overdraft fees they paid in any continuous 45 day period between May 1, 2004 through and including December 31, 2011. Settlement Class Members may submit claims online at www.BancorpOverdraftSettlement.com or by completing and mailing a claim form.
Notices will be sent to Settlement Class Members and are scheduled to appear in selected local newspapers leading up to a hearing on July 30, 2012, when the Court will consider whether to grant final approval to the settlement.
The Court has appointed Scott E. Poynter, Corey D. McGaha, Christopher D. Jennings, William T. Crowder, Emerson Poynter LLP, Little Rock, Arkansas and John G. Emerson, Emerson Poynter LLP, Houston, Texas as Class Counsel to represent Settlement Class Members.
Those affected by this settlement can submit a claim for benefits, or they can ask to be excluded from or object to, the settlement and its terms. The deadline for exclusions and objections is July 9, 2012. Claim forms must be postmarked by September 13, 2012.
A toll-free number, 1-877-841-8162, has been established in the case known Melvin L. Thomas III and Billy D. Lawson, Jr., et al. v. BancorpSouth Bank and BancorpSouth, Inc., Case No. 1:2012-cv-1016, along with a website, www.BancorpOverdraftSettlement.com, where the notice, claim form and settlement agreement may be obtained. Those affected may also write to BancorpSouth Overdraft Settlement, PO Box 3207, Portland, OR 97208-3207.
SOURCE The United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas
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