Debit cards have been a huge boon to most banks, which have figured out they are solid source of fee income. But they may have had their fee spigots opened a bit too wide. Some have latched onto overdraft fees as culprit No. 1 when it comes to abusive fees. Fairly or not, this has taken root in the media and in Washington.

The New York Times weighs in with a lengthy piece that leads off with a guy who was hit with seven $34 dollar overdraft fees from Wells Fargo. He had made a large enough deposit to cover his seven small charges but it had yet to clear. Overall, overdraft fees now account for $27 billion in revenue across the industry.

Regulators have taken note; this is certainly a populist issue. The question here is whether banks can voluntarily act to curb some abuses or is it too late? In particular, government-owned Citigroup might be able to position itself as a leader in this field, establishing practices that would de facto be seen as okay by the government. 

For more:
- here's the article

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