Archive

STATE OF NEW YORK ISSUES AN INDUSTRY LETTER TO ALL STATE CHARTERED BANKS! WILL THERE BE MORE?

On July 12, 2022, The New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) issued an Industry Letter providing guidance on overdraft and non-sufficient funds (NSF) fees to depository institutions that it supervises. The DFS indicated that, through the supervisory process, it identified several unfair or deceptive acts or practices regarding the imposition of overdraft and NSF fees. The Industry Letter intended to alert New York institutions that the DFS “will evaluate whether Institutions are engaged in deceptive […]

CFPB ATTACKS BANK FEES

In a recent blog post and in recent training we pointed out the financial institution regulatory agencies attack on overdraft fees. Now the attack is being broadened. On January 26, 2022, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a request for public comment on the topic of Fees Imposed by Providers of Consumer Financial Products or Services. Comments will be accepted until March 31, 2022.  The request is a chance for the public to share […]

SUGGESTIONS FOR HANDLING OVERDRAFTS

On December 8, 2021, Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael J. Hsu shared his thoughts regarding overdraft practices at the Consumer Federation of America’s 34th Annual Financial Services Conference. Mr. Hsu stated, “As we all know, it is expensive to be poor. And a significant part of that expense comes from the products and services offered by banks themselves. As the Brookings Institution has noted recently, ‘The existing system is regressive (reverse Robin Hood), creating […]

$16M SETTLEMENT FOR OVERDRAFT FEES

On October 5, 2020, the Navy Federal Credit Union agreed to settle a class action suit for $16 million that will reimburse an estimated 700,000 current and former members who were charged two or three non-sufficient funds (NSF) fees on a single transaction by Navy Federal Credit Union between Jan. 28, 2014, and Oct. 27, 2020. An U.S. District Court judge in Virginia has issued a preliminary approval for the settlement in Lambert v. Navy Federal Credit Union, […]

PREPAID ACCOUNTS JUST GOT KICKED UP TO THE CONSUMER PROTECTION SUITE

On October 3, 2016 the CFPB issued its final rule for general purpose prepaid accounts which will generally go into effect on October 1, 2017.   This culminated a 4+ year wait since the CFPB announced its initial intention to regulate prepaid accounts and 2 years from its proposal.  The CFPB’s initial 870 page ANPR has morphed into a 1,689-page final rule so it’s easy to determine that numerous products and requirements were added on that […]