Yes, I overdrew my account when I was in college and had $50 to my name. It was my mistake, I made a purchase unsure of how much money I had.
I also used to work for a bank that gave out RALs so I'm perfectly aware of the unethical behavior that happens in banking. So call it unethical, call it what it is. Using inaccurate alarmist language does not help the matter.
Poor people often make very bad financial decisions. But so do rich and middle class people. The difference is that the poor people have no one to turn to for help. Exploiting that may not fit the statutory definition of robbery, but it meets it in every other way I can think of.
1. Banks must make rejection of a charge, rather than overdrafting, the default.
2. When overdrafting is enabled, cap the fees at some amount (say, $5), and also cap the amount the account can be overdrafted at, say, $50.
Looks like a pretty disgusting scheme to me. /sarcasm