CFPB Publishes Reports on Overdraft, Bank Fee Revenuesate to Include SAFE Banking Act in NDAA

Posted: Dec 08 2021

The CFPB has published reports detailing the agency’s research into overdraft and other bank fees at all depository institutions. According to the reports, three types of aggregate fee revenues—maintenance fees, ATM fees and overdraft fees—all declined in 2020, with overdraft fees seeing the greatest decline at 26.2 percent. Between 2015 and 2019, overdraft fees were increasing about 1.7 percent annually.

The report also looked at “overdraft/NSF reliance,” which the bureau defined as “the share of overdraft/non-sufficient funds fees among the three fees listed in the Call Reports.” Reliance on overdraft fees remained consistent between 2015 and 2018 before increasing slightly in 2019. Fee reliance fell in 2020, likely due to increased bank account balances and lower consumer spending during the pandemic.

A separate report also provides an overview of overdraft fees at smaller banks and credit unions, based on information supplied by core processors from 2014. The CFPB noted that this data “may not always reflect current practices and outcomes,” but represents “the most detailed and wide-ranging quantitative data the bureau or others have collected on overdraft practices at small institutions.”

In the press release accompanying the reports, the Bureau noted that it “will be enhancing its supervisory and enforcement scrutiny of banks that are heavily dependent on overdraft fees.” CFPB Director Rohit Chopra also added that, “We will be taking action to restore meaningful competition to this market.”

To read more, visit: https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/cfpb-research-shows-banks-deep-dependence-on-overdraft-fees/