Fee disclosures

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued guidance reminding banks that they must be able to prove that consumers have opted in to overdraft services in order to charge overdraft fees.

Bankers say it isn't a crazy notion for a bank to charge multiple NSF fees on the same transaction because merchants often resubmit transactions for payment a second time, and the bank has no way of knowing if or when that happens.

The firms respectively settled the regulator’s allegations about suspicious activity reports and the duty of best execution — two major areas of emphasis.

A semiannual online banking scorecard highlights areas where banks are doing well and could improve, such as customizable home pages and transparent fees.

Even financial institutions that have updated their practices still don’t hit the basic benchmarks of transparency and fairness.

More banks are discussing the status of overdraft practices, and the industry is bracing for the potential of new regulations under President-elect Joe Biden.

The Georgia company said the agency is looking at its policies for paying, or withholding, Paycheck Protection Program fees to borrowers' agents.

Disclosure requirements are changing all the time. Failure to stay on top of this can lead to fines or worse.

Delaying the rule's effective date or refocusing it on disclosure requirements are among the options for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's acting director to ease its impact on the industry.

House Democrats are lobbying for a bill to reform the way banks charge overdraft fees, but recognizing that Republicans are unlikely to take up the legislation, they are hoping the CFPB can act on its own.