Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman of the House Committee on Financial Services, gave the following statement at a Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions hybrid hearing entitled, “The End of Overdraft Fees? Examining the Movement to Eliminate the Fees Costing Consumers Billions.” 

Thank you so very much, Chair Perlmutter. For far too long, banks have been charging excessive overdraft fees. And of course, I am very troubled that consumers of color pay twice as much in fees as White consumers. 

I commend Representative Carolyn Maloney for her steadfast work in proposing the overdraft reforms we are considering today. We have also not been shy in conducting megabank oversight, pressing their CEOs to reduce and eliminate these costly fees, many of whom are beginning to do just that.  

With a strong CFPB supporting our efforts by investigating junk fees like these, we now have a growing list of banks finally reducing or eliminating overdraft fees. So, I look forward to hearing from our witnesses on these issues and how we should build on this momentum.   

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