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Today, Bank of America and PNC Financial Services announced $8.4 billion in combined net earnings in Q2 2024. Recently, PNC Financial Services followed pending rulemaking guidance from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to slash its credit card late fees to $8 while Bank of America, which charges as high as $40 late fees, has yet to do the same.

 As government watchdog Accountable.US has documented, exploitative junk fees, like late and overdraft charges levied by banks and financial companies, cost American families billions every year. New analysis from Accountable.US revealed today that between January and March of 2024, Bank of America and PNC Financial Services raked in $1.3 billion in revenue from junk fees.

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The Biden administration’s rulemaking against excessive credit card late fees is already working to save everyday Americans money with PNC bank choosing to follow the $8 limit guideline before the action has taken effect. PNC clearly concluded they didn’t need to keep price-gouging consumers with extreme late fees to turn a profit. Other major credit card issuers can do the same any time they want. It’s clear many big banks will not budge on the greedy practice and continue to squeeze maximum profit out of working Americans absent the federal crackdown currently stalled by industry legal challenges. It’s costing Americans $27 million each and every day the big bank-funded U.S. Chamber holds up the credit card late fee rule in the court system.”

Accountable.US Liz Zelnick

BACKGROUND: 

  • Earlier this year, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau unveiled a new rule capping late fees at $8, down from an average of $30. In a costly setback for millions of consumers, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce—representing major banks like Bank of America—sued to block implementation of the rule and earned a stay from Trump-appointed Judge Mark Pittman of the Northern District of Texas, a decision that costs American families roughly $27 million each day that it’s in effect.

  • Congressional Republicans in the pocket of big banks have also fought to keep financial industry junk fees in place. House Financial Services Committee Chair Rep. McHenry (R-NC) has aggressively attacked the CFPB’s proposed rulemaking on credit card late fees while failing to mention he has taken over $1.1 million from the eight largest credit card issuers and banking industry trade groups.

  • After receiving $7.9 million from the largest credit issuers and industry groups most affected by the CFPB’s potential cap on credit card late fees, House Financial Services Committee (HFSC) Republicans voted in favor of a Congressional Review Act resolution introduced by Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY-06) to block the rule. Despite industry and Republican opposition, the CFPB’s exceptionally popular rule would save millions of Americans $220 per year on average, a total surpassing $10 billion across the nation annually, and would be a significant step towards alleviating crushing credit card debt plaguing American families.

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