Wells Fargo addresses overdraft fees - finally

The Blue Angels fly in formation over the city as part of fleet week festivities in San Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, October 12, 2008. The Blue Angels fly in formation over the city as part of fleet week festivities in San Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, October 12, 2008. Photo: Laura Morton, Special To The Chronicle Photo: Laura Morton, Special To The Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Wells Fargo addresses overdraft fees - finally 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

With Congress and regulators looming, and another populist bonfire threatening to jump the lines, San Francisco's Wells Fargo & Co. joined Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase on Wednesday in addressing overdraft fees.

On a date to be determined, Wells Fargo and its Wachovia subsidiary will eliminate fees on customer overdrafts of $5 or less and will limit such charges to a maximum of four per day. It will also allow customers to opt out of automatic overdraft coverage, meaning their debit card and ATM transactions won't go through if the account is overdrawn.

Wells Fargo's changes are similar to those announced by BofA, which won't charge fees on overdrafts of less than $10 per day, beginning Oct. 19, and Chase, which will limit its charges to overdrafts of $5 or more, and on no more than three overdrafts per day. Both BofA and Chase will allow their customers to opt out of automatic overdraft protection.

"Most of our customers don't need overdraft coverage in any given month, but for those that do we hope these changes, along with the tools we already provide, will help them minimize overdraft fees," Wells Fargo's senior executive VP Carrie Tolstedt said in a statement.

The changes may also mitigate the growing fury engendered by overdraft fees that, in Wells' case, start at $25 for the first in a 12-month period, and $35 thereafter. In the meantime, Wells Fargo and the other banks have to figure out how to fill the holes in the estimated $29 billion or more per year they've been making from the current system.

Perhaps that's why Wells said its customers will get more information on the changes "over the coming months."

MBA BY THE BAY: See how an MBA could change your life with SFGATE's interactive directory of Bay Area programs.

Stepping up for schools: Before Wells' major announcement, we received an earlier one that we're happy to pass along. The bank says its local branches, including Wachovia's, have donated $1,000 to each of more than 500 Bay Area schools hit by recent budget shortfalls. The money is designed to help fund much-needed school supplies and education programs.

Fleet Week needs you! San Francisco's 28-year tradition of honoring America's troops is the latest victim of the Great Recession. The private funding, which organizers have never before had a problem raising, has fallen way short this year.

Steaming to the rescue is a Support Fleet Week cruise, due to set sail around the bay this evening from Pier 3. A dockside cocktail party will send you on your merry way, and there'll be more cocktails and nibblies on board, along with dibs on a host of travel, hotel and other goodies, including a trip to Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tenn.

The cruise is $200 a pop, which its hosts, including the San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau, the mayor's office and a number of business organizations, hope will contribute greatly to the $100,000 needed to get the fleet into port next month.

"This is the first time we've had to do this," said Laurie Armstrong, vice president of public affairs at the Convention & Visitors Bureau. "Hopefully, it's the last." Tickets and other information at www.supportfleetweek.com.

Life imitating science fiction: Redwood City's Proteus Biomedical is partnering with Swiss pharma giant Novartis AG to produce a "chip on a pill" that not only treats the patient but follows up with a text message reminding him or her to keep taking the pill.

As reported in The Chronicle in December, the microchip transmits information on the pill's digestion to a tiny transmitter affixed to the patient's shoulder, then to the patient's cell phone and doctor's electronic records. It's all in aid of the push for patient "compliance" with prescribed medication, one of the next big things in "intelligent medicine."

We wondered what other reminders Proteus might have in its kit bag if the chips don't have the desired effect. Haven't heard back yet.