On January 8, 2024, the Consumer Bankers Association (CBA) announced the launch of a new microsite, overdraftfacts.com, to demonstrate the value overdraft services provide to consumers, highlight bank-driven overdraft and non-sufficient funds (NSF) innovations and reforms that have significantly reduced consumer costs, and serve as a resource for policymakers. The microsite also includes statements from regulators, legislators, scholars, thought leaders, and the media; input about the CFPB’s planned NSF and overdraft fee rulemaking; and related industry articles.
CBA President and CEO Lindsey Johnson issued the following statement on the launch of the microsite:
As the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau prepares to issue a proposed rule that could reduce consumer choice from the current highly-tailored offerings banks provide, it’s more important than ever for policymakers to be made aware of the far-reaching negative impacts this one-size-fits-all rule would have on consumers.
Misguided regulatory action would also undo years of bank-led overdraft innovation, competition, and reforms that have delivered greater transparency, choice, and savings. All the while, it could further limit access for the millions of Americans who purposefully use and value overdraft as one of the few emergency safety net products remaining today in the well-regulated banking system.
We are still awaiting the CFPB’s NSF and overdraft fee rulemaking that was expected late last year to closely follow the CFPB’s December report, Overdraft and Nonsufficient Fund Fees: Insights from the Making Ends Meet Survey and Consumer Credit Panel. Earlier this month, the American Bankers Association, America’s Credit Unions, and Independent Community Bankers of America wrote a letter to CFPB Director Rohit Chopra to address their concerns that the CFPB’s proposal for rulemaking on NSF and overdraft fees triggers the statutorily required Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act review, as the rulemaking will have a significant economic impact on banks and credits unions with assets of $850 million or less.