Checking account overdraft fees have jumped during the past two years, despite an effort by regulators to rein in aggressive practices by banks, according to new reports by two nonprofit groups, the Washington Post reported today. Although the basic overdraft fee of $35 has not changed in two years, banks have imposed other harsh penalties on consumers for minor lapses, the papers said. The Pew Health Group, a research organization, called for the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to press banks to be more upfront about these “still risky” fees in a paper to be published today. Another report, released Thursday by the Consumer Federation of America, an advocacy group, expressed similar concerns and urged consumers to inform the CFPB of high overdraft fees. Although the Federal Reserve in 2009 required banks to tell customers about overdraft penalities, the disclosure statements were often unclear and tough for consumers to follow, the two reports said. The Fed in 2010 also prohibited banks from imposing overdraft charges unless a customer had signed up for the service. Another regulator set limits on the number of times customers can be charged overdraft fees. The increases were caused by federal legislation last year that reduced bank income from debit-card transactions, the American Bankers Association said. At the same time, a 2010 survey by the association found that 77 percent of customers did not pay overdraft fees, but that figure rose to 84 percent in 2011, according to the ABA.
