Project News
-
- Press Release
- Safe Checking in the Electronic Age
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. more
-
December 3, 2012
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.
more -
- Press Release
- Safe Checking in the Electronic Age
Pew Report: Most Banks Limit Consumer Options for Dispute Resolution in Checking Accounts
The Pew Safe Checking in the Electronic Age Project today released Banking on Arbitration: Big Banks, Consumers, and Checking Account Dispute Resolution, a report that examines the 100 largest financial institutions’ dispute resolution clauses as well as consumer attitudes about these procedures. more
-
- Press Release
- Safe Checking in the Electronic Age
Five of the Top 12 Biggest Banks Adopt Pew’s Consumer-Friendly Summary of Checking Terms & Fees
Bank of America is among the latest banks to announce they will voluntarily adopt Pew’s disclosure summary for checking accounts. With these additions, five of the top 12 banks in America—representing over one-quarter (27 percent) of total deposit volume in the country—have adopted Pew’s recommendation.
more -
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
Media Coverage
-
- Media Coverage
- Safe Checking in the Electronic Age
A Look at Why Consumers Are Using Prepaid Debit Cards
It’s clear that prepaid debit cards — cards that you load with cash, spend down and then reload — are hot. more
-
- Media Coverage
- Safe Checking in the Electronic Age
Fees for Closing Accounts Draw Attention
Many banks across the country, including several in Massachusetts, are charging customers if they close a checking or savings account within several months of opening it. more
-
- Media Coverage
- Safe Checking in the Electronic Age
Overdraft Settlements Cost Banks A Small Fraction Of What's Netted In Fees
When compared with the billions of dollars big banks have rung up in overdraft fees over the last decade, recent settlements with customers over unfair overdraft charges have amounted to little more than a slap on the wrist. No different is JPMorgan Chase's tentative agreement, first reported Monday, to settle for $110 million a consumer case charging that it routinely reordered checking account transactions. more
-
- Media Coverage
- Safe Checking in the Electronic Age
We Paid Almost $30 Billion in Overdraft Fees in 2011
At many banks, customers were automatically—often unwittingly—enrolled in overdraft programs that would permit debit purchases to go through even if it would overdraw their account, to the tune of up to $35 a pop. more
-
- Media Coverage
- Safe Checking in the Electronic Age
Some Thoughts for the Shopping Season
The big banks canceled plans for new debit card fees after their customers rebelled and members of Congress objected. But if Americans think their debit card problems are over, they’re wrong. more
-
- Media Coverage
- Safe Checking in the Electronic Age
Clearer Bank Account Terms
Consumer advocates are rightly pressuring the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to require banks to disclose important terms on checking accounts like the monthly fee in easy-to-understand forms. more
-
- Media Coverage
- Safe Checking in the Electronic Age
Chase Adopts Simplified Checking Disclosure
Chase has become the first big bank to voluntarily adopt a simplified, plain-language checking account disclosure, as proposed by an arm of the nonprofit group Pew Charitable Trusts. more
-
- Media Coverage
- Safe Checking in the Electronic Age
Time to Stop Arguing About Disclosure Reform
In October 2010, the Pew Safe Checking Project began a study of checking account terms and conditions at the 10 largest banks in the United States. One noteworthy finding was that the median length of disclosure documents was 111 pages. more
-
- Media Coverage
- Safe Checking in the Electronic Age
Graphic Illustration of High Cost of Debit Overdrafts
Want a graphic illustration of how banks can manipulate their books to multiply their profits from your mistakes? more
-
- Media Coverage
- Safe Checking in the Electronic Age
How Much Basic Checking at a Big Bank Really Costs
There’s been a lot of media coverage lately about Americans switching from big banks to community banks, credit unions and online banks. That may be a good move for some people, but we’ll come right out and say it: Some consumers need a big bank. more
