The LATEST
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October 9, 2012
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.
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- Interactive
- Safe Checking in the Electronic Age
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.
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- Media Coverage
- Safe Checking in the Electronic Age
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. more
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September 25, 2012
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.
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- Data Visualizations
- Safe Checking in the Electronic Age
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.
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September 6, 2012
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.
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- Media Coverage
- Safe Checking in the Electronic Age
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
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- Media Coverage
- Safe Checking in the Electronic Age
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.
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- Media Coverage
- Safe Checking in the Electronic Age
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
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August 24, 2012
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. more