Reining in Wall Street Reports

Since Congress largely deregulated consumer deposit (checking and savings) accounts beginning in the early 1980s, the PIRGs have tracked bank deposit account fee changes and documented the banks’ long-term strategy to raise fees, invent new fees and make it harder to avoid fees. 

Over the last six months, PIRG staff conducted inquiries at 392 bank branches in 21 states and reviewed bank fees online in 12 others. This report, “Big Banks, Bigger Fees: A National Survey of Bank Fees and Fee Disclosure Policies,” examines the following questions: 

- How easy is it for consumers to shop around? 

- Can consumers still find free or low-cost checking accounts or has free checking ended? 

- What can the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) do to help improve transparency in the financial marketplace, an important goal as consumers seek to make ends meet in response to the lingering recession?