President Joe Biden announces his administration's plans to eliminate junk fees for consumers, Oct. 26, 2022, in the South Court Auditorium on the White House campus in Washington.
The bureau’s guidance would make it illegal for banks to charge an overdraft fee on a transaction when a customer’s account shows a positive balance at the time of a purchase, or when they withdraw money from their account. Roughly two weeks away from the midterm elections, Biden is using public events to show how his administration is trying to reduce costs for families. That push comes as high inflation -- averaging 8.2% over the past year -- has been a drag on the president’s approval rating and put Democrats at a disadvantage with voters.
“These changes were made without regulatory or legislative intervention,” said Lindsey Johnson, president and CEO of the Consumer Bankers Association, the trade and lobby group for the nation’s biggest retail banks like Wells Fargo and Bank of America. The bureau did not have an estimate of how much Americans pay in bad check fees, because banks do not publicly disclose those figures in regulatory filings.
Just lower the cost of doing business! Drill Baby Drill..