Consumers who use online payday lenders may be taken advantage of twice: first, by the lenders’ triple-digit interest rates that flout state caps, then with fees tacked on by the borrowers’ own banks.
overdraft fees
The Rise of the Alterna-Banks: 4 Options Beyond Traditional Banking
Is it time to part ways your bank? There are more options than ever for people looking for a different kind of banking experience — many of them without the onerous fees and requirements of traditional bank accounts.
More Evidence That We’re Getting Hammered With Bank Fees
It’s hard to tell which is piling up faster — the fees bank customers have to pay these days or the research showing just how pervasive these fees are.
Bankrate.com just issued a new survey of checking account fees. (Spoiler …
Seriously? Bank Fees Shoot Up Again
Call it account inflation: A new study shows that checking accounts have gotten even more expensive for customers in 2012, and the phrase “free checking” looks to be going the way of the manual typewriter and the cassette tape.
Banks’ Overdraft Policies Are Getting More Confusing
Last week, JPMorgan Chase & Co. announced that it’s eliminating overdraft fees on purchases of $5 or less. Also this month, regional banks Fifth Third and U.S. Bank are raising their overdraft fees for multiple overdrafts and …
Study: Banks Still Doing a Crummy Job Disclosing Fees Even as They Raise Them
In an extensive study last year, the Pew Charitable Trusts found out what many Americans who’ve been zapped by overdraft fees or frustrated trying to understand fine print already knew: Big banks make it difficult for their customers to figure out exactly when and how much they’ll be charged in fees.
Now, in a follow-up report that …
They’re Baaack: Americans Paid $31.6 Billion in Overdraft Fees in 2011 — and the CFPB Ain’t Happy
Federal Reserve rules implemented in 2010 were supposed to protect customers from getting hit with overdraft fees if they unwittingly made a purchase that put their account in the red. Now, two years later, banks are still raking …
Prepaid Debit Cards: The Lesser of Two Evils?
“I’d take the $3.95 any day over the $35 overdrafting or for some other fees.”
This statement, from a focus group participant, neatly sums up America’s evolving attitude prepaid debit cards. We don’t like the fees, but we like banks even less — and trust providers of prepaid cards more than we trust mainstream banks, according to …
The CFPB Wants to Give You Better Overdraft Fee Protection
It’s hard to overstate how much bank customers hate overdraft fees, but we still shelled out nearly $30 billion on them last year. The Federal Reserve attempted to rein in the “gotcha” factor with new rules in 2010, but banks have exploited loopholes in them and increased the fees. Now, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is trying …
Hey, They Were Listening: Some Banks Reinstate Free Checking
Consumers love to gripe about the scarcity of free checking and ever-increasing bank fees. But something funny happened in the second half of 2011 that belies the narrative of being nickel-and-dimed by the big banks: The …
Disloyal Customers: Most Consumers Switched Service Providers in 2011
If you stayed the course last year and never switched banks, wireless companies, pay TV services, or any other providers, then you’re in the minority. And if you actually feel “very loyal” to your providers, then you’re part of …
JPMorgan Chase Agrees to Pay $110 Million in Overdraft Class-Action Lawsuit
JPMorgan Chase & Co. is one step closer to a possible settlement of a class-action lawsuit brought against a number of banks over their so-called transaction-ordering practices. “We’re pleased to have reached an agreement in …
