Project News
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- Press Release
- Safe Checking in the Electronic Age
Citibank Adopts Pew’s Summary of Checking Account Terms & Fees
Citibank is the third major bank to announce it will voluntarily adopt Pew’s simple overview for checking accounts.
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- Press Release
- Safe Checking in the Electronic Age
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.
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- Press Release
- Safe Checking in the Electronic Age
Pew Finds Consumers Subject to Unclear Policies, Leading to Unnecessary Costs When Navigating Checking Accounts
The Pew Safe Checking in the Electronic Age Project released Still Risky: An Update on the Safety and Transparency of Checking Accounts today, a report that examines the many financial risks consumers face when they open a checking account. more
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- Press Release
- Safe Checking in the Electronic Age
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. more
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- Press Release
- Safe Checking in the Electronic Age
Chase, North Carolina State Employees' Credit Union, and Pentagon Federal Credit Union Adopt Pew's Simple Account Terms Disclosure Form
The Safe Checking in the Electronic Age Project applauds Chase, North Carolina State Employees’ Credit Union, and Pentagon Federal Credit Union for voluntarily adopting Pew’s model checking account disclosure form. more
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- Press Release
- Safe Checking in the Electronic Age
Checking Account Customers Support Stronger Banking Regulations, Pew-Commissioned Poll Finds
Nearly three-fourths of Americans with checking accounts support regulations that would require banks to better disclose the terms, conditions and fees associated with their checking services, according to a new poll commissioned by the Safe Checking in the Electronic Age Project. more
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- Press Release
- Safe Checking in the Electronic Age
Pew Finds Checking Accounts Contain Risky Terms and Conditions
One hundred eleven pages. That is the median length of the checking account disclosures consumers are supposed to read and understand before opening an account at any of the 10 largest banks, according to documents analyzed in a new report from the Pew Health Group’s Safe Checking in the Electronic Age Project. Failure to provide clear and comprehensive disclosure can expose accountholders to hidden and potentially dangerous risks. more
Media Coverage
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- 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
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- 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
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- 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
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- 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
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- 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
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- 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
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- 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
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- 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
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- 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
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- 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
