New Overdraft Protection law and alternatives

Scanning one of the newsletters I read to keep up on consumer issues I came across this tidbit of information.

Don't … opt into overdraft protection being pushed by your bank.
Connect your checking account with your savings account instead, says the LA Times' Kathy Kristof:

By connecting accounts, you can avoid fees for careless errors, such as when you overspend by $5 at the grocery store and get hit with a $35 overdraft charge. If you connect your checking account to a credit card or savings account, you'll pay a fee to transfer money from savings to checking when necessary, but it will be a lot less than the standard overdraft charge for so-called automatic overdraft protection.

Read more: http://money.blogs.time.com/2010/07/27/want-to-keep-more-of-your-money-heres-what-not-to-do/#ixzz0vT5rd1RW

That tidbit appeared in this article: http://money.blogs.time.com/2010/07/27/want-to-keep-more-of-your-money-heres-what-not-to-do/

I don't know about you, but my bank has been absolutely harassing me into signing up for overdraft protection.  Because of the fees and interest involved, and the fact that they do not send you any notice when they cover an orverdraft, and they refuse to promise to cover all overdrafts, I am not doing that.  However, I did call my bank, BB&T, and they have two savings accounts that they will link to your checking account.  One is an online esavings account with a higher interest rate, and no minimum balance, than the pathetic basic savings account. 

Now, I am pretty sure the bank will figure out a way to make the money up that they will lose from those of us who will not sign up for overdraft protection, but I am willing to keep my eyes open for that.