NEW: Cicilline Joins Maloney to Introduce Overdraft Protection Act
Friday, May 11, 2012
U.S. Congressman David Cicilline (D-RI) joined Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) earlier this week for the introduction of the Overdraft Protection Act – legislation that will increase transparency in regard to overdraft protection practices, and ban banks from manipulating the order of transactions, a practice which can trigger excessive overdraft fees on consumers.
“Rhode Island consumers don’t want special treatment, they just want to be treated fairly and not taken advantage of by the big banks. They want to know that if they work hard and play by the rules, they’ll have enough to take care of themselves and their family, own a home, and save for their retirement years. This is only possible if they have a fair shot at success, and this legislation will help protect consumers from excessive and unwarranted overdraft fees,” said Cicilline.
In order to prevent banks from unfairly imposing fees on consumers, the Overdraft Protection Act would:
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST- Ban banks from maximizing overdraft fees by manipulating the order in which checks and other debits are posted.
- Limit overdrafts to one per month and six per year.
- Add additional disclosures by banks regarding their overdraft coverage policies.
- Require overdraft fees to be “reasonable and proportional” to the overdraft amount.
Cicilline and three of his colleagues in the House joined Maloney at a press conference on Wednesday announcing the introduction of this legislation – a video of his remarks can be seen by clicking here.
The freshman Congressman has already established a strong record of fighting for effective consumer protections. Last year, Cicilline introduced legislation that would bar financial institutions from imposing fees on consumers for using debit cards, authored letters to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Kilmartin urging that they hold Wall Street banks accountable for their role in the financial crisis, and has voted to defend and strengthen the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
