Banks prepare to take on the Biden administration over billions of dollars in overdraft fees

Get Nadine White's Race Report newsletter for a fresh perspective on the week's news Get our free newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent Get our free newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. While banks have drastically cut back on overdraft fees in the past decade, the nation's biggest banks still take in roughly $8 billion in overdraft fees every year, according to data from the CFPB and bank public records. The Biden Administration has placed overdraft fees at the center of a campaign against what it calls “junk fees" and has directed government regulators — the CFPB and the Federal Trade Commission — to do whatever is in their power to further curtail the practice. These are commonly known as “bounced check fees.” According to Bankrate research conducted in August 2023, overdraft fees are still charged on 91% of accounts surveyed — and they can run as high as $39. While big banks have cut back on overdraft fees, smaller banks have not, and a number of them heavily rely on overdrafts to be profitable, industry analysts said.