Rep. Maloney Pushes for Legislation to Reduce Overdraft Fees

Carolyn Maloney has been advocating for legislation that would regulate how banks levy overdraft fees on its customers. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has reported that Americans suffer from an average overdraft fee of around $34. It also reported that most fees are applied on debit card purchases totaling at less than $24. Maloney argues that such fees are outrageous, since often overdrafts of such small amounts are little mistakes for which Americans have been paying through the nose. She not only calls for fees that are proportional to the charges, but also expand the opt-in requirement to paper checks and automatic transactions to prevent the risk of overdrawing without realizing. Finally, she wants to prohibit banks from "shuffling" bills, which can sometimes lead to customers incurring multiple fees for the same infraction.

I think this article leans toward the liberal end of the spectrum, being published on a New York-based news network. Additionally, the article offers an open forum to the network's Twitter and Facebook for people to share their personal stories on unfair overdraft fees, implying that it is on the same side as Maloney concerning such financial practices.

http://www.ny1.com/content/lifestyles/money_matters/217168/rep--maloney-pushes-for-legislation-to-reduce-overdraft-fees/