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
Schumer Wants Crackdown on Hidden Checking Fees
Senator Charles Schumer has proposed a crackdown on lengthy checking account applications that often hide or bury fees.
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- Media Coverage
- Safe Checking in the Electronic Age
111 Pages of Disclosures for the Typical Checking Account?!?
"According to a new study, checking accounts at the nation's ten largest banks come with a median length of 111 pages of disclosure documents. Getting to the bottom of all of your account's requirements, fee schedules, addendums, and other terms and conditions is like reading a short novel—a horrendously boring, annoyingly legalistic, and purposely confusing novel.
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April 27, 2011
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.
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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
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- Data Visualizations
- Safe Checking in the Electronic Age
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.
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- Issue Brief
- Safe Checking in the Electronic Age
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.
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