The cost to overdraw a bank account could drop to as little as $3 under a proposal announced by the White House, the latest effort by the Biden administration to combat fees it says pose an unnecessary burden on American consumers, particularly those living paycheck to paycheck.

The change could potentially eliminate billions of dollars in fee revenue for the nation’s biggest banks, which were gearing up for a battle even before Wednesday’s announcement. Exactly how much revenue depends on which version of the new regulation is adopted.

Banks charge a customer an overdraft fee if their bank account balance falls below zero. Overdraft started as a courtesy offered to some customers when paper checks used to take days to clear, but proliferated thanks to the growing popularity of debit cards.

  • admiralteal@kbin.social
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    6 months ago

    The IRA is a big structural change that puts us on a path where we might actually escape global armageddon. It doesn’t get us there, but it puts us on the path and buys us just a little bit of time. And its entire philosophical approach builds constituencies massively, which means the longer it exists, the more it will go into a virtuous cycle. So long as Trump doesn’t get in next cycle and dismantle it from within, it will be incredibly sticky.

    It’s almost certainly the most important bill passed in any of our lifetimes. Not just climate-wise, but legislation-wise. It’s very technical and kind of boring, which makes it not as exciting, but it’s still absolutely huge.

    I don’t give a fuck if people hate Biden for whatever reasons they have. But at least this one piece of major progress, somehow passed through an uncontrolled congress, must not be denied. If we deny it, that’s probably it for our civilization. If we let the achievement be ignored, climate policy will probably be over and the ecosystem will be allowed to die. Any other issue is petty next to total collapse of the global climate and if passing this bill was ALL he could achieve – even ignoring some of the other stuff like filling departments with the most diverse crowd ever in American history – it would still have been a good term for a president. Better-liked presidents have achieved less.