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
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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- 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.
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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
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- Media Coverage
- Safe Checking in the Electronic Age
New York Times: Drawbacks to Banking Accounts for Seniors
The Pew Charitable Trust, as part of a project titled “Still Risky: An Update on the Safety and Transparency of Checking Accounts,” has looked into so-called senior checking accounts at four of the largest United States banks and one large credit union.
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- Media Coverage
- Safe Checking in the Electronic Age
American Banker: What's Driving the Sudden Shift Toward Simpler Disclosures?
Banks have been talking for years about using plain language in their disclosure notices, but only recently have they started to take action.
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- Media Coverage
- Safe Checking in the Electronic Age
10 Annoying Bank Fees and How to Avoid Them
Do you know what bank fees you're paying? Many banks charge fees for behaviors that customers don't realize are costing them money. Among them are foreign transaction fees and, perhaps most surprisingly, fees for receiving paper statements.
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- Issue Brief
- Safe Checking in the Electronic Age
Senior Checking Accounts: Are They Worth It?
Banks offer special accounts for specific populations. Consumers should evaluate their options carefully before choosing their account type. As Americans open checking accounts across the country, many are often offered special products that banks market exclusively to seniors.
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- Issue Brief
- Safe Checking in the Electronic Age
Student Checking Accounts: Are They Worth It?
Banks offer special accounts for specific populations. Consumers should evaluate their options carefully before choosing their account type. As Americans open checking accounts across the country, many are often offered special products that banks market exclusively to students.
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July 23, 2012
Regulatory Comment: Proposed Rulemaking on General Purpose Reloadable Prepaid Cards
The Pew Charitable Trusts’ Financial Security Portfolio is pleased to provide comments in response to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on General Purpose Reloadable Prepaid Cards.
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