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Payday Loans Do Not Eliminate Checking Account Overdrafts

Payday lenders often advertise their loans as a way to avoid expensive checking account overdrafts. Research shows most borrowers end up paying fees for both.

More Than Half of Top 12 U.S. Banks Now Use Pew’s Model Checking Disclosures

SunTrust voluntarily adopted The Pew Charitable Trusts’ disclosure summary for checking accounts today, becoming the seventh of the 12 largest banks in the country now using the simple disclosure box. Currently, this consumer-friendly information is available to over 40 percent of the US market, by deposit volume.

Holiday Overdraft Fees Add Up

If you bought one of the following gifts, you could pay this much after an accidental overdraft.

Paying for the Holidays

As the holiday shopping season takes off, consumers are turning to a variety of financial management tools. View our slideshow and learn more about Pew’s research on hidden bank fees, the growing use of prepaid debit cards, and the actual duration of payday loans that are marketed as two-week products.

Banking on Arbitration

The report, Banking on Arbitration: Big Banks, Consumers, and Checking Account Dispute Resolution, reviews the 100 largest financial institutions’ dispute resolution clauses as well as consumer attitudes about these practices.

Banking on Arbitration

Big banks, consumers, and checking account dispute resolution.

Arbitration Bound

How does dispute resolution work, what is arbitration, and what are a consumer's options at every step along the way? Find out the with the Pew Safe Checking Project's interactive.

Still Risky: Bank Fees and Disclosures in the States

Where consumers live has a significant impact on how easily they can access information on terms, conditions and fees, as well as how much they will pay to maintain an account, overdraft, or accrue other fees.

Still Risky

Banks are continuing key banking practices that put consumers at financial risk and potentially expose them to high and unexpected costs for little benefit.

Quiz: Find the Fee

Do you read your bank's disclosures when opening an account? Where can consumers find important provisions about checking accounts? Take this interactive quiz to learn the answers.

Still Risky: Checking Accounts in Alabama

Checking accounts, the most widely used financial product in America, contain hidden risks that can harm consumers. Four of the 12 largest banks nationwide offer checking accounts in Alabama and hold 42 percent of all deposits in the state. Here’s what consumers in Alabama may be paying.

Still Risky: Checking Accounts in Alaska

Checking accounts, the most widely used financial product in America, contain hidden risks that can harm consumers. One of the 12 largest banks nationwide offers checking accounts in Alaska and holds 51 percent of all deposits in the state. Here’s what consumers in Alaska may be paying.

More Evidence That We’re Getting Hammered With Bank Fees

It's hard to tell which is piling up faster — the fees bank customers have to pay these days or the research showing just how pervasive these fees are.

Policy Recommendations: Improving Checking Account Consumer Protections

Pew has developed four key recommendations that can inform the efforts of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to improve bank transparency and practices, allowing consumers to comparison shop for the product that best meets their needs.

Long on Words, Short on Protections

Pew’s research showed that the median length of bank disclosures for key checking account policies and fee information was 69 pages.

Loaded With Uncertainty

General purpose reloadable prepaid cards are rapidly growing in popularity. This study reveals that the prepaid card is a risky, largely unregulated alternative to the traditional checking account, but may work for some consumers who frequently incur high bank overdraft fees.

Banks simplifying checking account disclosures

Bowing to pressure from consumers and Congress, major banks are simplifying the information they provide to customers about their most basic product — the checking account. Bank of America Corp. said Wednesday that it was adopting plain language disclosures that

LA Times: BofA joins Chase, Citibank in Simplifying Checking Disclosures

Pressured by consumer advocates and Congress, most of the nation's big banks are now providing consumers a one page form listing basic terms and conditions for checking accounts, with Bank of America Corp. the latest to join the trend.

BofA Launches New Fee Disclosure Statements, Joining Other Banks

Bank of America Corp on Wednesday said it will provide customers with new, easy to read statements with information about fees for consumer and business checking accounts, following similar steps by other banks. The two page "checking clarity statements" will

Safe Checking: Policy Recommendations

Checking accounts are critical to the financial well-being of American families, but many bear hidden risks. Susan Weinstock, director of the Safe Checking in the Electronic Age project, offers four policy recommendations to make accounts more transparent and fair for consumers.

Senior Checking Accounts: Are They Worth It?

Banks offer special accounts for specific populations. Consumers should evaluate their options carefully before choosing their account type. As Americans open checking accounts across the country, many are often offered special products that banks market exclusively to seniors.

Student Checking Accounts: Are They Worth It?

Pew's Comments: Impact of Overdraft Programs

Letter to Monica Jackson, Office of the Executive Secretary at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, from Susan K. Weinstock, Project Director of Pew Center on the States' Safe Checking in the Electronic Age Project, regarding the Impact of Overdraft Programs.

Overdraft America: Confusion and Concerns About Bank Practices

Are consumers knowingly consenting to overdraft coverage or are they signing up for a potentially costly product that they don’t understand?

TD Bank Adopts Pew's Simple Disclosure Document

Pew commends TD Bank, Illinois’ Inland Bank, University of Illinois Employees Credit Union, and Tennessee’s Eastman Credit Union for voluntarily adopting Pew’s model checking account disclosure form.

Key Focus Group Findings on Prepaid Debit Cards

This fact sheet focuses on the lessons learned from consumers who purchase and use prepaid debit cards.

Regulatory Comment: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — Streamlining Inherited Regulations

The Pew Safe Checking in the Electronic Age Project responds to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s call for comments on Docket ID CFPB-2011-0039.

Pew's Call for Simple Bank Fee Disclosure Gains Traction with Financial Institutions

Pew's research shows that the median length of bank disclosures for key checking account policies and fee information is 111 pages. Based on this finding, Pew developed a disclosure form, similar to what is currently used in credit card offers. Pew commends a few financial institutions for voluntarily adopting our disclosure box.

Making Checking Accounts Safer and More Transparent

These fact sheets summarize Pew’s policy recommendations to make checking accounts safer and more transparent.

Regulatory Comment: Financial Habits and Patterns of Low- and Moderate-Income Households

This regulatory comment provides recommendations on Treasury’s prioritization of financial access activities.

Transaction Infraction

An interactive graphic demonstrating how banks can reorder a checking account customer’s transactions in a manner that maximizes overdraft fees.

Fees and the Unbanked

An interactive map highlighting the checking account practices of the 10 largest U.S. banks and the percentage of people without bank accounts in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Testimony: Susan Weinstock to the Senate Banking Committee’s Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Protections

On October 4, 2011, Susan Weinstock, director of the Safe Checking in the Electronic Age Project, of the Pew Health Group delivered testimony in front of the Senate Banking Committee’s Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Protections. The following is her written comments.

Letter: Regulatory Authority and Priorities of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

The Pew Charitable Trusts, joined by banking, consumer and civil rights organizations, submitted a letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) asking them to act quickly to ensure that consumers are protected from unfair banking practices and are provided important information about their accounts.

Regulatory Comment: Defining Larger Participants in Certain Consumer Financial Products and Services Markets

This regulatory comment discusses the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) proposed rule on defining larger participants in certain markets related to related to consumer financial products and services.

Regulatory Comment: Guidance on Deposit-Related Consumer Credit Products

Recommendations related to this request for comment.

Regulatory Comment: Availability of Funds and Collection of Checks

The Safe Checking in the Electronic Age Project responds to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System’s call for comments on RIN No. 7100-AD68, Availability of Funds and Collection of Checks.

Hidden Risks

A checking account is the most basic and necessary financial product for American consumers. Nine out of 10 Americans have a checking account, making it the most widely utilized financial services product in the United States.

Checking Account Risks at a Glance

The Safe Checking in the Electronic Age Project conducted a study of checking account terms and conditions that examines both the state of the marketplace and the effect of current regulations covering these accounts.

Regulatory Comment: Overdraft Payment Programs and Consumer Protection

The Safe Checking in the Electronic Age Project responds to the FDIC’s call for comments on FIL-47-2010, Overdraft Payment Programs and Consumer Protection. The FDIC issued proposed guidance for public comment on how banking institutions it supervises should implement and maintain oversight of automated overdraft programs.

States, Cities Tussle With Banks Over ATM Surcharges

A recently approved San Francisco referendum has refocused attention on state and local efforts to ban Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) surcharges. Iowa and Connecticut have forbidden the fees altogether, moves that are being challenged in federal court, while Arkansas, Mississippi and Wyoming have set surcharge limits.