Court to Notify Current and Former Fifth Third Bank Customers About a Class Action Settlement Involving Overdraft Fees

CHICAGO, Nov. 29, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- A notification program began today, as ordered by the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (the "Court"), to alert people who have or had a bank account with Fifth Third Bank ("Fifth Third") about a proposed class action settlement.

The lawsuit alleges that Fifth Third improperly assessed overdraft fees for insufficient funds on debit card purchases and/or ATM withdrawals by "re-sequencing" transactions in order to maximize the number of overdraft fees. Fifth Third denies all of the Plaintiffs' claims and says that it did nothing wrong.

The Settlement Class includes all persons in the United States who hold or held a Fifth Third Account and who at any time from October 21, 2004 through July 1, 2010, incurred at least one Overdraft Fee associated with at least one Fifth Third Debit Card Transaction.

The settlement will establish a Settlement Fund of $9.5 million and provide payments of up to three times the Overdraft Fees that Settlement Class Members paid in any continuous 45 day period between October 21, 2004 and July 1, 2010. Settlement Class Members may submit claims online at www.OverdraftSettlement.com or by completing and mailing a claim form.

Notices will be sent to Settlement Class Members, appear on Fifth Third's website (www.53.com), and are scheduled to appear in selected local newspapers leading up to a hearing on March 16, 2011, when the Court will consider whether to grant final approval to the settlement.

The Court has appointed Ben Barnow, Barnow and Associates, P.C., of Chicago, Illinois; Burton H. Finkelstein, Finkelstein Thompson LLP, of Washington, D.C.; Hassan A. Zavareei, Tycko & Zavareei LLP, of Washington, D.C.; and David J. Worley, Evangelista & Associates, LLC, of Atlanta, Georgia, as Proposed Settlement Class Counsel to represent the Settlement Class.

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 February 23, 2011. The claim deadline is May 2, 2011.

A toll-free number, 1-888-235-7491, has been established in the case known as Schulte, et al. v. Fifth Third Bank, Case No. 1:09-CV-06655, along with a website, www.OverdraftSettlement.com, where the notice, claim form and settlement agreement may be obtained. Those affected may also write to Fifth Third Overdraft Settlement, PO Box 3266, Portland, OR 97208-3266.

SOURCE The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois