On August 28, Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) sent letters to 25 major banks requesting information regarding their overdraft policies and profits following the repeal of the CFPB’s overdraft lending rule. As previously covered by InfoBytes, President Trump repealed the CFPB’s overdraft lending rule following legislative agreement under the Congressional Review Act. The Bureau’s rule would have capped overdraft fees at $5 for banks and credit unions with at least $10 billion in assets (covered by InfoBytes here).
In the letters, the senators posited these fees were not necessary for the bank’s survival and noted that an increasing number of large banks have eliminated overdraft fees without sacrificing their profits. The senators requested responses by September 12 to specific questions about each bank’s overdraft policies and their plans to implement the Bureau’s rule before its repeal. They also sought information on the expected amount to be collected in overdraft and NSF fees this year, as well as the average fees charged to customers over the past five years. The letters expressed concerns that the repeal would allow banks to continue collecting substantial overdraft fees resulting in millions of bank account closures, which would likely increase debanking.
[View source.]
