ICYMI: Ahead of SOTU, Here’s What You Need to Know About Junk Fees

WASHINGTON, DC – After the Biden administration and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ramped up their efforts to curb credit card late fees this week, government watchdog Accountable.US is highlighting its body of research on the financial industry’s history of ‘junk fees’ ahead of Biden’s State of the Union address. 

Curbing “junk fees”—abusive, often-hidden fees and penalties that disproportionately impact low-income Americans—has been a major part of the CFPB’s efforts to protect consumers from predatory banks across the country. Within the last year, the agency and the Biden administration have taken major steps to rein in the financial industry’s exploitative practices, including introducing official guidance on eliminating “junk fees” for good. 

[Watch A.US’ video to learn more about junk fees] 

Meanwhile, as the CFPB continues to ramp up its actions, the House’s MAGA Majority and business groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are frantically trying to weaken the agency’s rulemaking power. 

Tackling abusive charges across the financial industry is expected to be a major agenda item in President Biden’s SOTU address next week. Here is in-depth research from Accountable.US on the history of junk fees and their impact on American consumers: 

FROM ACCOUNTABLE.US:  

• Behind The Financial Industry’s Rhetoric That Overdraft Fees “Save Customers Money” Is A Much Costlier Reality For Consumers
  
• Republican Lawmakers Opposed To Overdraft Regulation Have Taken $3 Million From Industry, Including $41,500 In Donations In The Days Before And After Defending Overdraft Fees
  
• Consumers Paying An Average Overdraft Fee Of $35 Could Use That Money To Buy Necessary Consumer Goods, Such As Coffee, Gas, And Baby Food.  
• Mortgage Industry Fees And Disparities Undermine AAPI Homeownership
• Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase And Bank Of America’s CEOs Saw “Double-Digit” Pay Increases, All While Their Banks Made $3.76 Billion From “Exploitative” Overdraft And Non-Suffiicent Funds Fees In 2021. 
• Major Banks Targeted In Congressional Letter Made Over $3.76 Billion In Overdraft Or Non-Sufficient Funds Revenue As Their CEOs Received $129.5 Million In Total Compensation 
• Consumers Admit That Rising Fees Are Increasingly Harmful Amid Inflation  
• As Most Big Banks Claim Overdraft Fee Reforms, Seven Other Major Banks Relied On Over $1.2 Billion In Overdraft And NSF Fees In 2021—Over 12% Of Their $9.9 Billion In Profit