Hello,
I had a similar discussion with my colleague on savings account with negative
balance about two weeks ago. The ask was to debit customer savings accounts for
regulatory reasons even if the account balance is 0.
Also, I had a negative balance in my account with a commercial bank days ago
due to a bank charge that I wasn't expecting.
Below is a suggestion on how I think this feature can be implemented in
fineract.
1. An "allow-negative-balance-on-savings-account" can be added to the global
configuration to enable/disable this feature.
2. It should be implemented as a separate API due to its sensitive nature e.g
(e.g
~/fineract-provider/api/v1/savingsaccounts/14/transactions?command=withdrawal-force-post).
The "allow-negative-balance-on-savings-account" setting should be checked
before the transaction is posted.
3. New permissions such as WITHDRAW SAVINGSACCOUNT FORCE DEBIT, WITHDRAW
SAVINGSACCOUNT FORCE DEBIT CHECKER should be created and used for the new API.
Regards
Anu Omotayo
On Sunday, January 11, 2026 at 01:12:07 AM GMT+1, Campbell Burgess
<[email protected]> wrote:
Paul.... Very well laid out. Thank you.
Bottom line... negative consumer deposit (savings accounts in Fineract)
routinely go negative, with and without, formal arrangements and with (but also
without) account holder opt-in.
If what I am now guessing is correct, that Fineract does not readily support a
force-post, what is the best path forward.
Again, we are happy to do all the lifting and contribute the work product to
the community, of course, expecting independent review and oversight.
Campbell
On 1/10/2026 10:37 AM, Paul wrote:
Regulation E (Electronic Fund Transfers): For one-time debit card and ATM
transactions, banks cannot charge an overdraft fee unless the consumer has
explicitly opted in. However, even without an opt-in, a bank is legally
permitted to pay the transaction (creating a negative balance) as long as it
does not charge a fee.
--
Herring BANCORP ®
C. Campbell Burgess
President/CEO
Office: (806) 373-3921 | Direct: (806) 242-3704
[email protected]
Herring Bancorp
2201 Civic Circle, Suite 1000
Amarillo, TX 79109
www.herringbank.com
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