Transaction declined? Texting to OK overdrafts

If you are willing to pay a $35 fee to overdraw your checking account, just text your approval to the bank.

Under a pilot programme at Bank of America, customers who enrol would have the option to instantly reverse a declined transaction. The default setting would continue to reject purchases when there isn't enough money in an account.

News of the test programme comes just a year after the bank stopped allowing overdraft transactions at the register. At the time, Bank of America touted the decision as a consumer-friendly policy that would prevent customers from unknowingly overdrafting their checking accounts and incurring penalty fees.

The company's decision was also a response to regulatory changes; a rule that went into effect last summer prohibits banks from enrolling customers in overdraft programmes without their active consent.

Under the new pilot programme, Bank of America says customers would be fully aware that approving an overdraft would result in a $35 fee.

To start, customers will have to sign up for the programme. If they then try to make a purchase that's declined at the register, they would immediately get a text from Bank of America asking if they want the purchase to go through.

The text would notify customers of the overdraft fee.

- AP