Payday Pundit

Bank fees are on the rise and don’t expect them to go down anytime soon according to the Chattanooga Times Free Press.
The Federal Reserve Bank’s recent interest rate cuts may have provided some relief for consumers, but banks have been left looking for other streams of revenue to compensate.
For many banks, that additional revenue comes […]

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The Center for Consumer Freedom responds to a recent editorial in Kansas’ Witchita Eagle.
“…The Eagle editorial ignored these critical facts while narrowly focusing an ad hominem critique on the payday industry alone. These lenders earn a mere fraction of what traditional banks make on service fees. In 2003, bounced-check and insufficient-fund fees generated $22 billion in […]

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Payday lenders, employees and customers are testifying before the Colorado legislature in an effort to keep their livelihood and consumer finance options intact in the face of special interest groups that want to destroy the payday advance industry.  Some of the key points brought out in this Rocky Mountain News item include: 
          “Employees expressed concern […]

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The Motley Fool picks up on the GAO report finding that, in 2006, consumers paid $36 billion in bank fees.  The Fool is highly critical of the government but also critical of consumers who don’t understand how much they’re paying in fees.  
How does this relate to payday lending?  Storefront payday lenders collected $6.5 billion in fees in 2006.  And payday lending […]

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GAO: BANK FEES: Federal Banking Regulators Could Better Ensure That Consumers Have Required Disclosure Documents Prior to Opening Checking or Savings Accounts

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A new GAO report coming out on Monday details rising bank fees and lack of transparency in fee disclosure.  The report says overdraft protection fees increased 11% between 2000-2007.    Excepts from Sunday’s Washington Post story on the report:
“Banks are failing to provide consumers with information about fees on savings and checking accounts even though federal rules require such disclosures.”
“The GAO […]

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