FEE VICTORY! Now let’s win another!

[Consumer Reports]   Dear Friend, We have GREAT NEWS on getting rid of outrageous fees that cost you real money: a new rule was just finalized that will cut the typical credit card late fee to $8 – saving consumers up to $10 billion a year! With some credit card companies charging as much as $41 for a late payment, and with one in five Americans telling us they were hit with a late fee in the previous year, this puts real money back in your pocket. And we thank the 40,000 of you who flexed your consumer muscle and signed our petition to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to adopt this rule. Now, we have a shot at getting rid of another outrageous fee: the $35 bank account overdraft fee. A plan is on the table to cut overdraft fees by more than 60 percent (to $14 or less), and to require banks and credit unions to tell you upfront what the full costs are for using this service. [Show your support for an end to excessive bank fees by signing our petition to the CFPB.]( Let’s score another pro-consumer victory when it comes to outrageous fees! [Sign the Petition](  Overdraft fees occur when you don’t have enough funds in your bank account to cover the full cost of a transaction, including debit card purchases, ATM withdrawals, and electronic bill payments. Banks take advantage of your slip-up by hitting you with a fee of up to $35 for each overdraft – which can add up to hundreds of dollars if you don’t notice the mistake right away. Banks and credit unions make HUGE profits from overdraft fees, raking in $9 billion in 2022 alone. These fees are excessive and often have little to do with the actual cost of doing business. In fact, the majority of consumer overdrafts are less than $26 and are repaid in three days – yet the average overdraft fee is equal to a 16,000 annual percentage interest rate on a short-term loan. Recently, after growing consumer complaints and intense scrutiny from the CFPB, banks including Capital One, Ally, and Citi eliminated overdraft fees. And Bank of America reduced them to $10 – illustrating that the $35 fee that many banks still charge is indeed excessive. Let’s use our consumer power to show the financial industry that we expect to be treated fairly. [Support the CFPB’s plan to dramatically reduce excessive overdraft fees!Â]( [Sign the Petition]( We’re up against the powerful financial industry, so please help us share the word by forwarding this email to friends and family, and sharing our petition on social media. Thank you for all you do to fight for fair treatment by banks and credit unions! Marcus Jones Consumer Reports [Unsubscribe from Consumer Reports action alerts.]( © 2022 Consumer Reports, 101 Truman Avenue, Yonkers, NY, 10703 [Contact Consumer Reports](