In response to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) request for information on harmful “junk fees,” the SBPC and the U.S. PIRG Education Fund call on the CFPB to use its broad authorities over enforcement, supervision, and regulation in the consumer financial services marketplace to investigate and eradicate these unfair charges.
As the advocates’ comments outline, financial service giants and universities are plaguing postsecondary students with unexpected, unavoidable, and hugely expensive junk fees on financial products ranging from school-sponsored prepaid and debit cards to various forms of “shadow” student debt. These charges include overdraft fees, insufficient fund fees, late fees, and a maze of other hugely harmful costs. In addition, the advocates’ comments note how junk fees that are common across the consumer banking space—such as overdraft fees—cause particularly acute financial distress for students.
Read the Advocates’ Comments: Letter in Response to a Request for Information Regarding Fees Imposed by Providers of Consumer Financial Products or Services
Read the Press Release: Financial Institutions are Nickel-and-Diming Students into Financial Ruin with Junk Fees