President Biden Cites Bank 'Junk Fees' as Weighing Down Families

Source: American Banker

Cracking down on so-called 'junk fees' is turning out to be good politics.

President Biden admonished banks and specifically mentioned bank 'junk fees' in remarks Monday to the White House Competition Council in which the administration took credit for the dramatic drop in overdraft and nonsufficient-funds fees in the past year.

Biden used the term 'junk fees,' in a nod to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra, who raised the ire of bankers in January with a request for information on what the agency called "exploitative junk fees." Biden's remarks signal that Democrats think the mention of so-called 'junk fees,' may appeal to voters ahead of the midterm elections or combat Republican attacks about the economy. 

"What we're talking about today is something that's weighing down family budgets: unnecessary hidden fees — unnecessary hidden fees, known in the parlance as 'junk fees,' —  are hitting families at a time when they can't afford it," Biden said. "They shouldn't be paying it anyway, in my view — but [especially not] at a time when they can't afford it." 

The White House Competition Council is made up of 10 cabinet members and the heads of seven independent agencies. It was created in July 2021 by an executive order to promote competition in the economy and specifically encouraged the CFPB to issue rules allowing customers to download their banking data and take it with them. 

The CFPB is expected to release its data-access rule, known as 1033 for its section in the Dodd-Frank Act, next year.