Progressive Group Launches Ad Campaign Supporting CFPB Overdraft Rule
The Accountable.US effort is part of the growing lobbying on both sides
Accountable.US, a progressive government watchdog group, launched on Thursday a high-profile ad campaign intended to support the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s proposed overdraft rule. The progressive group’s ads are one part of a high-pitched lobbying effort by groups on both sides of the issue.
The digital ads will run through February on several news sites, entertainment apps and weather apps in the Capitol Hill area of Washington, D.C. The ads display a message stating, “Big Banks Charge Overdraft Fees to Rake in Billions. Be a bank lobbyist’s worst nightmare & learn more about their greed.” The ads provide a link to one of the group’s websites, DefendAmericanConsumers.org, which contains details about the group’s consumer protection activities.
The CFPB released its long-awaited overdraft fee proposal last month. It would only apply to financial institutions with at least $10 billion in assets; the CFPB estimates it would cover the 175 largest credit unions and banks in the nation. The agency said that, if finalized, the rule likely would go into effect in October 2025.
The rule set off a flurry of campaigns in favor of the rule and opposed to it.
America’s Credit Unions immediately announced its opposition to the rule. The trade group is urging its members to use a survey to send comments to America’s Credit Unions. The answers to the survey will be compiled and then will be used to help form the group’s response to the proposal.
Meanwhile, the Consumer Bankers Association has created a website, overdraftfacts.com, to extol the virtues of overdraft programs. Accountable.US said that its ads were in response to the Consumer Bankers Association’s “new misinformation website.”
“Big bank CEOs and the Congressional Republicans in their pocket are desperate to convince consumers they should be grateful for price-gouging in the form of high-cost surprise overdraft charges,” said Liz Zelnick, director of the Economic Security & Corporate Power Program at Accountable.US. “Anyone who’s paid a $42 overdraft fee or multiple penalties over a $2 item may strongly disagree."
Zelnick added that overdraft fees hurt low-income and communities of color the hardest, adding that those people can least afford the fees charged. She said that many companies that voluntarily have ended their overdraft practices remain highly profitable.
“Bottom line: families are sick of being nickel and dimed with overdraft fees that serve no real purpose other than padding profits, ballooning CEO bonuses, and enriching wealthy investors,” she said.