Most Americans think common fees charged by banks are unfair, and support government efforts to reduce or eliminate them, according to a poll.
A survey released Tuesday by the Pew Charitable Trusts showed that 71% of U.S. adults polled said the typical overdraft fee of $35 most banks charged a few years ago was unfair. Nonsufficient funds (NSF) fees, which banks charge customers whose transactions are rejected for not having sufficient balance, were even less popular, with 87% saying those were unfair.
The public largely welcomed government intervention, with 84% saying regulators should encourage banks to reduce fees, and 54% saying regulators should eliminate them.
The survey sheds light on public attitudes toward bank fees at a time when many banks are reducing overdraft and NSF fees under pressure from efforts by the Biden Administration to crack down on financial charges that regulators call “junk fees.” Since late 2021, major banks have changed their policies to reduce or eliminate overdraft fees, or give customers more ways to avoid incurring them. Banks charged billions less in overdraft fees in 2022 than they did in 2019, according to an analysis by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
Bank of America, for example, cut its overdraft fee to $10 from $35 in 2022. In the Pew survey, respondents said a $10 overdraft fee was fair. Many banks have also eliminated NSF fees.
The poll showed support for banks offering small dollar-value loans as an alternative to overdrafts, with 82% saying it was fair for a bank to charge $30 for a three-month, $500 loan. For some customers, overdrafts have served a useful purpose—acting as a form of short term credit allowing them to make small purchases such as gas or groceries when there’s not enough money available, previous Pew research has shown.
In recent years, banks including Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and Truist, have started offering loans under $1,000 as an alternative to higher-cost options such as overdrafts or payday loans.