Strunk’s Overdraft Privilege (ODP) program has supported the industry for over 40 years. Many banks continue to leverage this strategy, which has proven to be one of the most successful fee income programs in banking history. By treating the daily overdraft process as a dedicated line of business through Strunk’s proven program, your institution can achieve greater efficiency and compliance.

1. Drive Revenue Without Raising Prices

The primary advantage of Strunk’s program is its ability to substantially increase fee income for your institution without requiring a price hike for your customers.

2. Ensure Regulatory Compliance

In a complex shifting landscape, Strunk ensures your program remains compliant with all applicable laws, regulations, and industry best practices.

3. Automated Decision Making

Manually reviewing accounts is inefficient. This program automates the daily “pay/don’t pay” and “charge/don’t charge” decisions for accounts with negative balances.

4. Advanced Reporting & Transparency

Strunk provides the data-driven insights necessary to manage your ODP effectively:

• Coverage Oversight: Reports ensure every eligible customer receives an ODP limit for checks and ACH items.
• Performance Metrics: Utilization and opt-in reports track performance by branch and product type.
• Customer Awareness: These reports help the bank ensure customers are fully informed about the program.

5. Empower Consumer Choice

Rather than the bank making assumptions, this program gives consumers the power to choose how they want their accounts handled.

6. Essential Point-of-Sale Access

A formal ODP program provides a safety net at the register. It allows consumers to complete essential purchases—such as prescription drugs or groceries—using a debit card that might otherwise be denied at the point of sale.

7. Support Customers with “Fresh Start” Loans

When customers struggle to repay an overdrawn account, Strunk offers a responsible solution. The “Fresh Start” four-month installment loan provides an opportunity to help customers regain their financial footing.

8. Streamlined Collections

The program generates compliant collection letters. These communications are automatically triggered based on the specific amount of time a customer’s account has remained overdrawn.

9. Comprehensive Employee Training

Implementation includes training for your staff on the specific benefits of ODP and the mechanics of how the program functions.

10. Proven Customer Satisfaction

Despite common misconceptions, consumer complaints regarding overdraft fees and published charges are historically small. Running a compliant, automated program is ultimately beneficial for both the bank and the customer.

With over four decades of experience, Strunk specializes in enhancing customer service while simultaneously boosting fee income. Ready to optimize your bank’s performance? Contact Strunk at 800.728.3116, email info@strunkaccess.com or visit our site to learn how we can help your institution make more money efficiently.

Banks across the country charge fees for all types of services…have you ever looked at the service charge schedule of a bank? Typically, those charges stay the same for years and are never reviewed for potential increases. Just go to a bank’s website and click on service charges and most banks publish their fees. Notice at the bottom of the page the date of the update to the fee schedule. Many times, it has been 5+ years since any changes have been made.

At Strunk we developed a program thirty years ago that increases fee income substantially without raising prices. Our Overdraft Privilege program focuses on the volume of checks/debits that overdraw an account rather than the fee the bank charges. Of course, we don’t want to encourage consumers to overdraw their account, but we don’t want to discourage them either.

Overdraft Privilege gives consumers a choice on how they want their account handled, rather than the bank deciding how the consumer wants their account handled. For checks and ACH items that overdraw and account, those debits are typically not returned to the merchant since fees pile up when that happens. Conversely for debit card and other electronic transactions that overdraw the account, consumers must opt in for those overdrafts. It’s been like this since July 1, 2010.

There are two components to generating fee income for a bank. 1) the fee being charged and 2) the number of “uses” for that service. ODP is all about the “uses” and not the fee.

Let Strunk revitalize your old ODP program to generate some additional income. Contact Strunk at info@strunkaccess.com or call us at 800.728.3116.