WASHINGTON — In a letter to Bank of America, two powerful nationwide consumer groups have urged that overdraft loan programs be limited to depositors who wish to use them and not applied to all accounts.

"So called 'courtesy overdraft', which is an expensive loan program, is very expensive for consumers," the groups wrote to the bank in their June 6 letter. "The Consumer Federation of America has documented high fees charged when most large banks, including bank of America, permit customers to overdraw their bank accounts with affirmative consent or warning that the transaction will overdraw the account."

The groups argued that the problem is worsened when the overdrafts are caused by debit card usage that the consumer does not realize will overdraw the account. Bank of America and other financial service providers should notify cardholders that a transaction will overdraw their account and give them the chance to cancel it, the groups said, or at least reduce the prevalence of the courtesy overdraft programs.