Wells Fargo ordered to pay $203M in restitution for overdraft fees

Wells Fargo must return $203 million to customers because it manipulated the processing of customer debit card purchases to maximize overdraft fees, a judge held Tuesday.

In connection with a class action lawsuit by California consumers, U.S. District Court Judge William Alsup held in a 90-page opinion that San Francisco-based Wells violated California law.

Instead of posting each transaction chronologically, the evidence presented at trial showed that Wells Fargo deducted the largest charges first, drawing down available balances more rapidly and triggering a higher volume of overdraft fees.

The suit covers customers of the bank between Nov. 15, 2004 and June 30, 2008 -- a time frame in which Wells Fargo generated $1.7 billion in overdraft fees.

A copy of the court's order can be found here.