Pew's Safe Checking in the Electronic Age Project raises awareness, builds partnerships with industry, and advocates for policies that reduce risks and allow Americans to responsibly manage their checking accounts. It provides the public with information about policies that promote a competitive marketplace in the age of electronic banking and foster a level playing field among financial institutions.
Why Safe Checking Matters
Nine out of 10 Americans have a checking account, making it the most widely used financial services product in the United States. These accounts provide a secure way for consumers to collect earnings and make payments, and for many, they serve as the entry point to the financial mainstream.
How We Conduct Our Work
The initiative educates the public and policy makers by analyzing current overdraft and deposit practices and disclosure provisions, as well as uncovering the hidden costs associated with many checking accounts. The project supports solutions that require depository institutions to:
- provide customers information about checking account terms, conditions, and fees in a concise, easy-to-read, one-page format;
- provide accountholders with clear, comprehensive pricing information for all available overdraft options;
- make overdraft penalty fees reasonable and proportional to the bank’s costs in providing the overdraft loan; and
- post deposits and withdrawals in a fully disclosed, objective, and neutral manner that does not maximize overdraft fees.
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The LATEST from the Project
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- Media Coverage
- Safe Checking in the Electronic Age
Today Show: Lawmakers Target 'Unfair' Overdraft Charges
Congress will get another chance to limit checking account overdraft fees that continue to annoy customers and produce billions of dollars in revenue each year for banks and credit unions. more
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- Media Coverage
- Safe Checking in the Electronic Age
Fox Business: Why You Are Charged Hefty Bank Fees
No one likes bank fees. So why do banks charge them, taking the risk of alienating their customers? more
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- Media Coverage
- Safe Checking in the Electronic Age
Wall Street Journal: Bank Fees—What Are They Good For?
From mandatory-arbitration clauses that waive jury trials to fees on empty envelopes and cash deposits, your bank is keeping disclosures tied to your checking accounts heavily cloaked in fine print and sometimes not in any print at all. more
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- Media Coverage
- Safe Checking in the Electronic Age
Sorry, But You Probably Can’t Sue Your Bank
For better or worse, Americans tend to take it as an article of faith that if someone does you wrong, you can sue. But banks are quietly adding language to their account terms and services that take away your right to a day in court, and the law is on their side. more
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- 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
