NSF fee
A non-sufficient-funds fee — charged when the bank declines a transaction because the account lacks the money to cover it.
An NSF — non-sufficient-funds — fee is what a bank charges when it returns a payment unpaid because the account did not have the balance to cover it. A bounced check, a rejected ACH autopay, or a declined recurring debit can all trigger one. Historically the amount has been similar to an overdraft fee, in the $25 to $35 range, though many banks have cut or eliminated NSF fees in recent years.
NSF differs from overdraft in one clean way. With overdraft, the bank pays the transaction and charges a fee; with NSF, the bank refuses the transaction and charges a fee anyway. The merchant or biller also does not receive the money, and may add their own returned-payment fee, so a single failed autopay can produce charges on both sides.
Repeated NSF returns on the same item — for example, a payment retried by the biller — can produce a fee each time it is returned.
Plumb is financial education, not financial, investment, tax, or legal advice.