(PatrioticPost.com)- On Wednesday, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau revealed a new range of plans designed to stop banks and financial organizations from hitting customers with hidden fees.
The bureau is requesting information from customers all over America about what fees they don’t believe are fair and is currently investigating what can be done to make these services and fees more transparent. Specifically, the bureau is looking for people to offer up opinion on fees that are not advertised when first accessing a service – often described as “service fees.”
Rohit Chopra, the director of the CFPB, said that many financial institutions purposely obscure the real price of services they offer by luring in customers with promises of cheap rates…before “charging excessive junk fees.”
He said that by promoting competition and getting rid of illegal practices in the market, his organization hopes to save American customers billions of dollars every year.
The watchdog said it is currently seeking feedback for customers who have been charged additional fees that were not covered by the baseline price for a produce or a service that they believe is unfairly high.
Small business owners and nonprofit groups are also requested to submit information about their experiences using big financial institutions, credit unions, and smaller banks.
You can submit information by clicking here.
The initiative has already proven to be a real danger to big banks and financial service providers, with many pushing back against the plan already. A group of eight trade groups which include the American Bankers Association responded by issuing a joint statement claiming that their request for people to submit their experience was somehow “misguided.”
The statement also claimed that it paints a “distorted and misleading picture” of what is happening in the market.
If that’s the case, then we’ll be sure to report back once people provide their input on the matter…
