US Targets Banks’ Billions of Dollars in Overdraft Fees

  • Consumer Financial Protection Bureau preps plan for next month
  • Firms charged clients $8.5 billion in fees in 2021, CFPB says

The US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau headquarters in Washington, DC.

Photographer: Ting Shen/Bloomberg
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A top US consumer watchdog is preparing to make it much harder for banks to charge clients overdraft fees — setting up a clash with financial firms over billions of dollars in annual revenue.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau officials have privately told industry executives that the regulator will likely unveil its long-awaited plan to crack down in December, according to people familiar with the discussions. The CFPB has been crafting the regulations for months, and most of the details remain secret.