What is the RETURN ITEM charge?

What is a Return Item Fee?

A bank statement descriptor showing exact RETURN ITEM FEE represents a non-sufficient funds penalty or bounced payment charge assessed by your financial institution. Banks apply this fee when an attempted ACH transfer, debit card payment, or written check is declined because your available account balance is too low to cover the transaction amount.

This fee can also appear on your statement if you deposited a check from another party that subsequently bounced due to insufficient funds in the issuer's account, causing your bank to reverse the provisional credit and assess a return penalty. Fees typically range from ten to fifty dollars per occurrence depending on your bank's fee schedule.

To address or contest this fee, review your recent account history to identify the declined payment or returned deposit that triggered the charge. If this is your first occurrence, call your bank customer service department immediately to request a courtesy fee waiver, or maintain higher buffer balances to prevent future returned items. Keeping close track of your monthly statements ensures complete financial security and prevents unexpected surprises from recurring charges.

Bounced Checks

You can also be charged this fee if you *deposit* a check from someone else, and that check bounces (e.g., the issuer had insufficient funds).

The bank will reverse the deposit credit and charge you the fee for processing the bad check.

1. Step 1 Look at your statement for a transaction on or near the same date that was reversed, declined, or returned to identify the trigger.
2. Step 2 If this is your first time receiving this fee (which usually ranges from $10 to $50), call your bank and politely ask for a courtesy waiver.

Dispute Rights & Fraud Prevention

Reviewing bank fee agreements helps clarify overdraft protection policies and returned item guidelines.

Frequently asked questions

Verified sources

Every claim on this page is checked against official sources — open them to confirm before you call your bank.

• CFPB: Disputing Credit Card Charges https://www.consumerfinance.gov
• FTC: Fair Credit Billing Act https://consumer.ftc.gov