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Bank NSF fee class actions have now extracted more than $43 million from four of Canada's five largest banks over a single disputed practice: charging a customer twice for what was, in substance, one failed payment. With Scotiabank's money moving into accounts this summer and CIBC's proposed settlement heading to court on October 19, 2026, the long-running litigation is reaching its final stage — and Bank of Montreal is now the only Big Five bank left without a deal.
Published August 4, 2026. This is general information, not legal advice. Eligibility is determined by the courts and class counsel, not by this article.
What the bank NSF fee class actions allege
The mechanic at the centre of every one of the bank NSF fee class actions is narrow and easy to miss on a statement.
A biller — a gym, an insurer, a lender, a utility — presents a pre-authorized debit. There is not enough money in the account, so it fails and the bank charges an NSF fee. Days later the biller automatically presents the same payment again. It fails again. The bank charges a second fee.
The claims filed by Toronto firm Koskie Minsky LLP argued that this was one failed transaction generating two or more penalties, in breach of the account agreements and consumer protection legislation. In the CIBC claim, the pleading cited a customer charged $90 in NSF fees — $45 twice — over a single $7.90 transaction that failed on two attempts.
None of the banks has admitted liability. All four that settled the bank NSF fee class actions did so expressly denying it.
Every bank NSF fee class action settlement, and where it stands
| Bank | Amount | Approx. per person | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| TD | $15.9 million | ~$88 per eligible account | Approved Feb 15, 2024 — concluded |
| Scotiabank | $10.45 million | ~$42.82 | Approved Jun 12, 2026 — paying out now |
| CIBC | $10 million (proposed) | Not yet published | Approval hearing Oct 19, 2026 |
| RBC | $7.05 million | ~$25 | Approved Sep 16, 2025 — concluded |
| BMO | — | — | Not certified, no settlement |
| Total | $43.4 million | Four settled, one outstanding |
Two of the bank NSF fee class actions are already finished. TD's settlement was approved in February 2024, with the court calling it "excellent, and in the best interests of the class," and money has long since been distributed at roughly $88 per eligible account — the highest per-person figure of the group. RBC's $7.05 million was approved in September 2025 and paid out at about $25 each.
The live bank NSF fee class actions are Scotiabank and CIBC.
Scotiabank money is landing now
Scotiabank's $10.45 million settlement was approved by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on June 12, 2026, and distribution began the following month.
Eligible class members were notified through Scotia Online and the mobile app from around July 13, 2026, with deposits going out over the following months at roughly $42.82 each. The class period runs June 21, 2020 to April 30, 2024, and eligibility turns on having been charged a $48 NSF fee on a re-presented pre-authorized debit two to 30 days after a previous fee from the same merchant for a matching amount.
Nobody has to fill in a form. The bank identifies the accounts from its own records.
CIBC's hearing is the next date to watch
CIBC agreed to its proposed $10 million settlement on June 24, 2026. The Ontario Superior Court of Justice will consider approval on October 19, 2026.
The class period is September 21, 2020 to May 31, 2024. If the court approves, CIBC will deposit refunds directly into affected customers' accounts unless they opted out. As with the others, CIBC denies liability.
Until that hearing happens, no money moves — a distinction worth keeping in mind given how many "CIBC payout" posts are already circulating.
BMO is now the last one standing
Bank of Montreal is the outlier among the bank NSF fee class actions. A Statement of Claim was issued on August 30, 2022, and the action was assigned to Justice Akbarali in October 2022, but it has not yet been certified as a class proceeding.
Certification is the gate: a court must first decide the case is appropriate to run as a class action before it can proceed to trial or settlement. Until then there is no settlement fund, no eligibility list and no payment date.
Class counsel's guidance is that no registration is required — anyone meeting the class definition is automatically included, and notice follows certification.
Why the bank NSF fee class actions matter beyond the refunds
The individual cheques are small. The pattern behind them is not.
At the time these fees were charged, the Big Six were levying between $45 and $48 per NSF item — a weighted average of about $46.85. A single bounced $7.90 debit could therefore generate penalties more than ten times the value of the payment itself, and a re-presentment could double that again.
That maths is precisely what federal policy has now addressed. Since March 12, 2026, amendments to the Financial Consumer Protection Framework Regulations cap NSF fees at $10 at federally regulated banks. The same rules bar more than one NSF fee within two business days on the same account — the direct regulatory answer to the re-presentment problem these lawsuits were built on — and prohibit any fee where the overdraft is under $10.
The bank NSF fee class actions and the regulation address different halves of the issue. The lawsuits look backwards, refunding fees charged between 2020 and 2024. The cap looks forwards. Our earlier report on the NSF fee cap in Canada covers what the new rules do and do not protect.
Key takeaways
- The bank NSF fee class actions have produced $43.4 million in settlements from four Big Five banks; BMO has not settled.
- TD ($15.9M, ~$88 each) and RBC ($7.05M, ~$25 each) are concluded and paid.
- Scotiabank ($10.45M, ~$42.82 each) began distributing in July 2026 — check Scotia Online notifications.
- CIBC's $10M proposal faces an approval hearing on October 19, 2026. No payments before then.
- No claim forms: these settlements pay by direct deposit from bank records.
- Since March 12, 2026, NSF fees are capped at $10, with no more than one per two business days.
- No bank admitted liability in any settlement.
The bottom line
For most people affected, the bank NSF fee class actions show up as an unexplained deposit rather than a letter — which is why so many eligible Canadians never connect the money to the case. If you banked with Scotiabank between June 2020 and April 2024 and ever had a payment bounce twice, check your notifications now. If you banked with CIBC between September 2020 and May 2024, the date to watch is October 19.
And if you are still budgeting around the possibility of a bounced payment, the more useful number is the current one: a failed debit now costs $10 at the bank rather than $48.
Sources: Koskie Minsky LLP case pages; Global News; BNN Bloomberg; Financial Consumer Agency of Canada.