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TUCSON - The Better Business Bureau of Southern Arizona is advising consumers that on August 15, new federal rules go into effect regulating the way banks administer their overdraft protection programs.

Starting Sunday, consumers will be able to choose in advance what happens when they make a charge on their debit or ATM card and don't have enough money in their account to pay for it.

According to the Federal Reserve there are usually two ways that banks deal with an overdraft:

Standard overdraft practices: The bank will cover a transaction for a flat fee of about $20-$35 each time the account is overdrawn. For example, if a consumer makes a purchase with their debit card for $150 but only has $100 in their account, the account will be overdrawn by $50 and the bank will charge a fee. If a consumer then makes an ATM withdrawal for $50, their account will be overdrawn by $100 and will be charged another fee. In this example, if the fee the bank charges for its standard overdraft practices is $30, the consumer will pay a total of $60 in fees on $100 in overdrafts.

Overdraft protection plans: Bank may offer a line of credit or a link to a savings account to cover transactions when a checking account becomes overdrawn. Banks typically charge a fee each time a checking account becomes overdrawn, but these overdraft protection plans may be less expensive than their standard overdraft practices.

So what's different under the new rules? Banks must now give consumers the option to choose how the bank will deal with an overdraft. In the past, some banks automatically enrolled consumers in a standard overdraft program when they opened an account. Now, the bank must ask permission and the consumer must to opt in.

If a consumer doesn't explicitly opt in, beginning August 15th, banks standard overdraft practices won't kick in when a consumer charges too much. Instead, the transaction will typically be declined when there isn't enough money in an account. Consumers won't be charged an overdraft fee, but they also won't be able to complete the purchase or withdrawal, either.

Consumers with existing accounts that were opened any time before July 1st, are supposed to get a notice from their bank about standard overdraft practices.

The new rules do not cover checks or automatic bill payments. Banks can still automatically enroll consumers in their standard overdraft practices for those types of transactions.