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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Politico Influence reports that “Portions of a press release issued last week by House Financial Services Chair Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) and Financial Institutions Subcommittee Chair Andy Barr (R-Ky.) criticizing the CFPB’s new proposal to rein in bank overdraft fees bear a striking resemblance — and in several cases use identical phrasing — to a top banking trade group’s talking points about the overdraft rule.”  

McHenry and Barr falsely claimed to be looking out for consumers by “bash[ing]” the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s final rule that limits overdraft fees charged by banking institutions and credit unions to a range of $3 to $14 down from as much as $42 — a move expected to save everyday families $3.5 billion every year. McHenry and Barr neglected to mention anywhere in their missive parroting industry talking points that they have together taken over a million dollars from just the 10 largest banks still charging overdraft fees, a recent Accountable.US analysis found.

“

For Chairman McHenry and Rep. Barr, shilling for their financial industry megadonors has become so involuntary and routine that they’re now literally copying and pasting talking points from banking lobbyists and trying to pass it off as their own. But what’s more unethical is that McHenry and Barr continue to claim consumers should be grateful for hidden and excessive overdraft fees when their only real purpose is to pad profits for big banks and credit unions."

Accountable.US’ Liz Zelnick. “

“McHenry and Barr can appease bank CEO and lobbyists all they want by parroting industry misinformation, but they should at least be honest that they’re doing it at the expense of consumers, not to their benefit. The fact remains, the Biden administration crackdown on excessive overdraft penalties like a $42 charge on a gallon of milk will directly benefit consumers by lowering their costs,” added Zelnick.

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