CFPB Monitors Deposit Fees Closely

In a lengthy, numbers-heavy blog post, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ("CFPB") showed off its math skills by analyzing fees that banks collect from their retail deposit customers, with a particular focus on overdraft fee trends. After discussing overdraft fee declines and observing that upticks in other deposit-related fees do not make up for those declines, the post concluded with the quiet observation that "these figures give suggestive evidence that changes in overdraft program settings and [other] policies are making meaningful difference in the amount consumers incur in various fees while using [deposit accounts]."

Based upon a total of five separate communications from the CFPB in as many months, including charts comparing fees, retail banks are well-advised to continue being conscientious about deposit-related fees, because the CFPB is most definitely watching and crunching those numbers.