“The Senate voted 52-48..to overturn a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule capping the overdraft fees that banks can charge, in another blow to the beleaguered agency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The resolution<\/a> under the Congressional Review Act now heads to the House, where the Financial Services Committee approved a companion bill<\/a> on a 30-19 vote earlier this month. CRAs both invalidate regulations and preclude future administrations from introducing \u201csubstantially similar\u201d proposals.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n …<\/p>\n\n\n\n “The Biden administration finalized the overdraft rule \u2014 part of its campaign against so-called junk fees \u2014 in December, to the chagrin of Republicans who had asked financial regulators to pause rulemaking after the election until the new administration was sworn in. Banks, which say the rule would limit their ability to offer overdraft coverage, fiercely opposed the regulation and sued to stop it hours after it was finalized.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n …<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Under the rule crafted by former CFPB Director Rohit Chopra, banks and credit unions with more than $10 billion in assets would have three options when a consumer overdraws their account: charging $5; charging a fee that covers no more than costs or losses; or disclosing the terms of a profit-generating overdraft loan as they would with other loans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), the lone Republican to vote against overturning the rule, said the regulation would \u201csave the average working class household something like $265 a year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI do not want to give big banks the ability to charge people outrageous sums of money,\u201d Hawley said. \u201cUnder this\u2026 they can charge whatever their expenses are on an overdraft, and if that\u2019s more than $5 per overdraft, they\u2019re allowed to charge that, but they\u2019re not allowed to charge anything more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Banks currently charge an average fee of $35 to extend overdraft services. The CFPB estimated the rule would save consumers $5 billion in fees per year.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n