The financial news that actually matters
This category focuses on bank fees, hidden charges, service costs, and updates in banking policies. It explains how fee structures work and how policy changes may impact customers’ accounts and financial behavior.
Federal bank examiners forced financial companies to return $140 million to customers who were hit with illegal fees on checking accounts, auto loans, and international money transfers. The refunds stem from supervisory examinations conducted between February and August 2023 by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Of that total, $120 million was tied to surprise overdraft…
Bank customers who overdraw their accounts on a one-time debit card purchase are once again facing fees near $27 per incident, even as total industry overdraft revenue sits well below its pre-pandemic peak. The tension between those two facts points to a gap most account holders can close themselves: federal rules allow consumers to revoke…
Bank customers who overdraw their accounts at the largest U.S. financial institutions will keep paying fees far above $5 after Congress and the White House nullified the only federal rule that would have imposed such a cap. President Trump signed the resolution on May 9, 2025, turning it into Public Law 119-10 and ending a…
Federal banking regulators have jointly banned the use of “reputation risk” as a basis for pressuring banks to close customer accounts tied to political, religious, or other lawful views. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Federal Reserve finalized the rule after a public comment period and…
People who booked travel through the Hopper app and were hit with unexpected charges now have a path to get money back. The company has agreed to pay $35 million to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations that it tacked on fees without user consent and misrepresented the costs and benefits of certain add-on products. The…
Connecticut residents booking hotel rooms, buying event tickets, or signing up for services will now see a single advertised price that includes every mandatory fee a business plans to charge. The state enacted PA 25-44, a law that requires companies to fold all required add-on costs into the sticker price shown to consumers. Attorney General…
Bank customers who overdraw their checking accounts are once again facing fees that have crept back toward pre-reform levels, with many institutions charging close to $27 per incident. That upward drift follows President Trump’s signing of a congressional resolution that overturned the Biden-era overdraft fee cap, removing a key federal price constraint. Yet a separate,…
Couples sitting on more than $250,000 in bank deposits can protect every dollar without resorting to exotic financial products. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation insures deposits at $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank, per ownership category. By spreading cash across multiple banks and using distinct ownership categories, a married couple can push total insured balances…
Consumers who paid a handling fee on Fanatics orders now have until August 27 to file for a settlement payment in a case tracked through Miami-Dade Circuit Court under Case No. 2026-001293-CA-01. The litigation, which alleges the online sports merchandise retailer added mandatory fees after displaying purchase prices, has roots in an earlier federal action…
Americans who need to move money fast still face a steep toll at many banks, where a single domestic wire transfer can run $35 to $50 per transaction. That cost stands in sharp contrast to two alternatives that charge nothing: Zelle, the bank-backed peer-to-peer network, and FedNow, the Federal Reserve’s instant payment rail. The gap…
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