U.S. · banking
Overdraft fee APR calculator.
Turn an overdraft fee into an APR so you can compare it with a card cash advance, a payday loan or a personal loan.
A $35 fee on a $50 overdraft that you repay in 3 days is a 70% charge, or an equivalent APR of about 8,517%. Four of those a year cost $140.
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How this is calculated
The fee as a share of the amount overdrawn is fee ÷ amount. To express it as an annual rate it is multiplied by 365 divided by the number of days you stay overdrawn: APR = (fee ÷ amount) × (365 ÷ days). That is the same single-advance, single-payment arithmetic Regulation Z Appendix J uses for short loans, with 365 divided by the days in the term as the number of periods per year. Yearly cost is just the fee times the number of overdrafts.
The CFPB's December 2023 report on overdraft and NSF fees used the same idea. With a $50 overdraft, a 3-day episode and a $34 fee from its 2014 report it computed an implied APR of 8,273%, and cautioned that the figure is driven largely by how short overdrafts are, which can make comparisons with longer-term credit unreliable. Its market monitoring from December 2022 to August 2023 put the median overdraft fee at $35 for the 119 banks and credit unions with over $10 billion in assets that charged one. Smaller institutions can charge less and fees differ by bank.
Worked example
$50 overdraft, $35 fee, repaid in 3 days. Fee share: $35 ÷ $50 = 70%. Annualized: 70% × 365 ÷ 3 = 8,517%. If it happens four times in a year, the fees come to $140 to borrow $50 for a few days each time.
Repay the same $50 in 10 days and the equivalent APR falls to 2,555% because the same fee is spread over more days; the dollar cost is unchanged.
Limits of this estimate
It treats the fee as the only cost and ignores interest, NSF fees, daily extended-overdraft fees and any fee waived by your bank. An APR on a few days of credit is a comparison tool, not a rate your bank discloses.
Sources
Primary sources opened and checked on October 26, 2026. Figures are as published on that date and are not a prediction of your own terms.
Common mix-ups
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Often assumedEvery bank charges the same overdraft fee, so there is no use comparing.
What the source saysThe CFPB notes that the size of overdraft and NSF fees varies across institutions. Its monitoring found a $35 median among 119 large banks and credit unions that charged overdraft fees, and not every institution charges one. [1]
Checked against these sources on .
Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate the APR of an overdraft fee?
Divide the fee by the amount overdrawn, multiply by 365, and divide by the number of days until you repay. A $35 fee on $50 for 3 days is 0.70 × 365 ÷ 3, about 8,517%.
What is the typical overdraft fee?
The CFPB's market monitoring from December 2022 to August 2023 found a median of $35 among 119 banks and credit unions with more than $10 billion in assets that charged overdraft fees. Fees vary by institution, so check your own schedule.
Is an overdraft really a loan?
Economically it works like one: the bank covers a shortfall and you repay it, with a fee. The CFPB itself computed an implied APR for it, with a warning that the number is driven by how short the overdraft is.
Why is the APR so high?
The fee is large relative to a small, short amount. Spread over only a few days, the same fee annualizes to thousands of percent. Over 30 days the same $35 on $50 would be about 852%.
How can I avoid overdraft fees?
Options your bank may offer include low-balance alerts, a linked savings account for transfers, and declining overdraft coverage on debit purchases. Check what is available on your account.
Not financial advice
This page is general information, not financial, legal or tax advice. Your loan, card or plan terms control and may differ from the examples. Confirm anything that matters with your lender, bank, insurer or a qualified adviser before you act. Everything runs in your browser; nothing you enter is sent anywhere.