New Survey Shows Banks Still Hiding Fees from Consumers

A survey of more than 350 bank branches released today by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group revealed that fewer than half of branches obeyed their legal duty to fully disclose fees to prospective customers, while one in four provided no fee information at all.

The report, Big Banks, Bigger Fees: A National Survey of Bank Fees and Fee Disclosure Policies, which includes a bank fee tips guide for consumers, also found that despite widespread stories about the "death" of free checking, free and low-cost checking choices are still widely available, if consumers shop around.

"Shopping for banks is harder when banks fail to obey the law and provide up front information about the fees they charge," said Ed Mierzwinski, U.S. PIRG Consumer Program Director and report author. "We look forward to July 21, when the CFPB, the new consumer cop with only one job, protecting consumers, steps onto the financial beat and starts keeping the banks honest about their fees."

Surveyors visited 392 bank branches in 21 states to compare fees and determine whether banks were complying with the 1991 Truth In Savings Act, which requires disclosure of all account-related fees to prospective customers. In 2008, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report finding that researchers "could not obtain" complete fee schedules at 22% of branches visited. Three years later that number is virtually the same, according to the new U.S. PIRG report.

"The Truth In Savings Act is a simple law that is supposed to help consumers shop around," said Mierzwinski. "But banks would rather hide the truth from consumers than give them better information to help the market work. What do the banks have to hide?"

Among the findings of Big Banks, Bigger Fees:

* Only 38% of banks visited provided researchers with fee schedules as required by law on their first request. After two or more requests, eventually a total of 55% complied with the law.

* In a finding nearly identical to the GAO report, nearly one-quarter of branches (23%) never complied and refused to provide fee information, claimed that they didn't have it, or told researchers to "go online."

* Researchers found a wide variety of free or low-cost checking options, at more than half of branches surveyed. Although the biggest banks have recently tightened requirements to obtain free checking, they have not eliminated it.

The shopping guide included in the report compares banking options, directs consumers to free and low-cost checking choices, and provides a list of fees that consumers should look out for when picking a bank. The group urged consumers to vote with their feet when they find that bank fees are too high.

"Big banks are blaming regulation for doing what they always do, which is raise fees," said Mierzwinski, "But free checking is still there for consumers who look for it and there are lots of ways to avoid high bank fees."

U.S. PIRG also made a series of recommendations to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which takes over most consumer law writing and enforcement on July 21. It called on the CFPB to enforce the Truth In Savings Act, and to require banks to post fees on the web in searchable formats and make fee disclosures in a clear, tabular format - not buried in cumbersome multi-page brochures.

"Banks will continue to ignore the Truth In Savings Act and other consumer laws until the CFPB takes over in July, " concluded Mierzwinski. "But the banks don't want consumers to have their own tough cop. That's why they've launched a relentless Congressional campaign to weaken the CFPB, deny it a strong director and delay its startup date, because the banks like it better when there are no cops on the beat."