Exploitive practices harming working families most, prompt SEIU to call for new standards to protect consumers

Washington, D.C. - With lawmakers continuing the debate over subprime mortgage protections, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) unveiled new reform measures today for some of the nation's largest and most powerful banks. The new standards called for by SEIU-the fastest growing labor union in North America-would protect low-income and minority families in particular from a range of exploitive practices currently used by the biggest banks in the country, including schemes to drive up ATM, overdraft, and other fees; excessively high interest rates on credit cards; and predatory and abusive lending practices such as deceptive credit card marketing and billing tactics as well as subprime and discriminatory lending.

We've passed the point where an 'anything goes' motto can be tolerated for the biggest and richest banks in the country,"said Andy Stern, SEIU International Executive President. "We're sending a message today on behalf of all working families: enough is enough."

Consolidation in the banking industry in the last decade has led to the top ten banks in the country controlling nearly half of all bank deposits in the country. Meanwhile, the biggest banks overall have cultivated a fee-driven profit model that disproportionately harms low-income and moderate-income families, most notably Bank of America (NYSE: BAC). Bank of America's total deposit service charges-income from fees the bank charges its customers for servicing their accounts-grew by 70 percent between 2002 and 2006 alone. In addition, Bank of America's move this summer to increase non-customer ATM fees by 50%-as high as $3 per transaction-has been criticized for prompting other leading banks to raise their ATM fees as well.

The reform measures released today-entitled "SEIU Principles for Holding America's Largest Banks Accountable to Consumers and Working Families"call for:

1. Basic standards for fees and interest rates on credit cards, bank accounts, and other bank products.
2. 'Super' Community Reinvestment Act requirements for the largest and most powerful banks.
3. Permit FTC scrutiny of bank practices and allow state attorneys general to enforce state and
federal consumer protections.
4. Strict enforcement of the 10% cap on bank deposits set by the Federal Reserve.

"We already know what happens to consumers when the biggest banks are allowed to operate without real regulation,"said Ed Mierzwinski, Consumer Program Director for US PIRG. "It's high time lawmakers put real limits on the power of big banks to wreak havoc on the financial futures of working people."

For more information visit www.bankofamericabadforamerica.org.  
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