Attorney General Tong Seeks to Protect Consumers from High Overdraft Fees

Press Releases

04/09/2025

Attorney General Tong Seeks to Protect Consumers from High Overdraft Fees

AG Tong and 22 Attorneys General Urge House to Reject Resolution Overturning CFPB’s Rule Limiting Overdraft Fee Charges by Big Banks

(Hartford, CT) -- Attorney General William Tong and a coalition of 22 other attorneys general sent a letter to the leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives and the House Financial Services Committee urging the House to vote against a resolution that would overturn the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) 2024 rule limiting overdraft fees imposed by the country’s largest banks. The rule prevents big banks from charging excessive overdraft fees that can hurt their customers’ credit and sometimes lead to account closures.

“Our entire economy is tanking right now thanks to Trump’s idiotic trade war. I’m not aware of anyone—aside from lobbyists for big banks—who thinks this is a good moment for new junk fees and excessive bank penalties for American families,” said Attorney General Tong.

House Joint Resolution 59 would overturn a 2024 rule issued by the CFPB that applies only to banks with over $10 billion in assets. The rule imposes reasonable limits on the overdraft fees these big banks may charge when customers overdraw their accounts. Nevertheless, late last month, the Senate narrowly passed its version of the resolution overturning the CFPB’s rule by a vote of 52-48, with Republican Senator Josh Hawley joining Senate Democrats to vote against it.

The average overdraft fee imposed by banks is about $35 and is usually significantly larger than the overdraft itself. Overdraft fees are also a major profit center for banks, accounting for about $5.8 billion in revenue in 2023. As Attorney General Tong and the coalition state in their letter, under the CFPB’s rule, if banks intend to continue profiting from such fees, they must treat them as interest on a loan, which is what they effectively are. Given that most overdraft fees are paid back in less than three days, a typical fee of $35 on an average overdraft of $26 is the equivalent of an annual interest rate of 16,000 percent.

As Attorney General Tong and the coalition argue in the letter, the CFPB’s rule plays a valuable role in protecting bank customers from excessive and often unexpected charges that can sometimes lead to involuntary account closures, damaging customers’ credit and even driving them out of the banking system altogether. In addition, excessive overdraft fees are unnecessary. As Attorney General Tong and the coalition point out in the letter, many banks – including Citigroup, Capital One, and Ally Bank – have already eliminated overdraft fees while still providing the convenience of overdraft protection.

Joining Attorney General Tong in sending this letter are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia. The Hawaii Office of Consumer Protection also joined the coalition.

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Media Contact:

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