Groundwork’s Bilal Baydoun on Senate Banking Hearing: “We should be thankful for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau”

Groundwork’s Bilal Baydoun on Senate Banking Hearing: “We should be thankful for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau”

In response to today’s Senate Banking Committee hearing on junk fees in the credit card industry and the housing market, Groundwork Collaborative’s Director of Policy and Research Bilal Baydoun reacted with the following statement:

“It’s a shame that some lawmakers are so scornful of an agency that is saving consumers billions of dollars per year by taking on predatory late fees. We should be thanking the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for standing up for consumers when corporate traps stretch family budgets.”

Email press@groundworkcollaborative.org to speak with Bilal Baydoun about junk fees, corporate power, and predatory pricing.

Background

• Last week, Bilal Baydoun testified before the Senate Banking Committee where he outlined the rampant corporate power behind price hikes facing consumers, including junk fees, stating: “In many ways, customer get gouged at the checkout line and in many ways to get gouged again, if they carry that balance on a credit card, not only through an exorbitant APRs, but also through junk fees like late fees.”
• Research from CFPB released last week found that consumers typically pay more when the prices are split into multiple fees with complex pricing structures. These hidden fees chip away at consumers’ pocketbooks and their sense of stability.
• Earlier this year, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized a rule that prevents credit card companies from charging late fees higher than $8, which will save 45 million people an average of $220 or more than $10 billion a year.
• In a February report, CFPB found credit card issuers have hiked APR margins to record highs since the Federal Reserve began collecting data in 1994.
• CFPB research shows large banks charge customers higher interest rates on their credit cards than smaller institutions, even with no difference in credit risk – rates that are even higher than those raised by the Federal Reserve.