Senate Democrats urge banks to simplify fee disclosures

Two Senate Democrats are pressing financial institutions to adopt a one-page form that details fees on checking accounts. 

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), a member of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Development Committee, sent a letter on Thursday to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) asking the newly formed agency to press banks disclose fees on checking accounts and "make it a standard" in the industry. 

"This is the logical next step," Durbin said. 

They argued that consumers would essentially force banks to keep fees in check as consumers shop around for the best possible checking account for their needs. 

"We're giving customers what they need to make informed decisions," Reed said.

They haven't spoken with CFPB officials or other groups in the banking community about the plan. 

“Simply put, consumers have had enough of banks that try to sneak fees past them that are hidden in fine print or imposed with no notice at all,” they wrote. “While we recognize that the CFPB is still in its formative stages and that it has many important tasks currently under way, we urge you to prioritize this matter and to use your regulatory authority to quickly ensure transparency for checking account fees." 

Pew found in a recent study that disclosures average 111 pages. 

Pentagon Federal Credit Union and the N.C. Teachers Credit Union have adopted the disclosure form, according to Durbin and Pew. 

The call comes less than a week after the nation's largest banks — Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Chase — said they would not pursue monthly fees ranging between $3 and $5 for customers debit-card use. 

Banks said they were instituting the debit card fees as a way to make up revenue lost to new rules implemented Oct. 1 that cut swipe fees from an average of 44 cents per transaction to 24 cents. 

Durbin sent letters to the banks asking them to reconsider the new fees.