Cuomo Signs Bill Limiting Overdraft Practices for New York Banks

New York-regulated banks will no longer be able to order checks in a way that causes consumers to pay unnecessary overdraft fees under legislation signed by outgoing Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

The legislation signed Thursday requires banks to process checks in the order they are received rather than processing larger payments first, which can drain customer accounts and result in consumers getting hit with unnecessary overdraft fees.

The new law also requires banks to reject check payments that are larger than an existing account balance, but make any payments on any subsequent smaller transactions that can be covered by the money ...