CRL in the News

“This is a very strong program that creates both limits, guardrails and the supports that people need to get through cash crunches that are going to continue to come to many working families,” Mike Calhoun, the president of the Center for Responsible Lending, an advocacy group that promotes financial fairness, said in an interview.

Big U.S. banks have generated about $9 billion annually in revenue from overdraft, ATM and other fees in recent years, according to the Center for Responsible Lending, or CRL. The fees have become somewhat of a cash cow for banks over the past 20 years, some experts have said. Taylor Roberson, a fintech regulation expert at CRL, said Bankrate's survey confirms what researchers have known for years about millennials baring the brunt of banking fees.

Nationwide, 790 of every 10,000 home loans made to Black households between 2005 and 2008, went into foreclosure between 2007 and 2009, according to the Center for Responsible Lending.

Big U.S. banks have generated about $9 billion annually in revenue from overdrafts, ATMs and other fees in recent years, according to the Center for Responsible Lending, or CRL. The fees have become somewhat of a cash cow for banks over the past 20 years, some experts have said. Taylor Roberson, a fintech regulation expert at CRL, said Bankrate’s survey confirms what researchers have known for years about millennials baring the brunt of banking fees.

Jaylon Herbin, outreach associate at the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), praised this week’s decision by the Biden Administration. “We commend the President for safeguarding student loan borrowers at a time of profound economic uncertainty,” said Herbin. “The extension of the payment pause is a critical step toward restoring economic stability for borrowers and their families. We urge the Biden Administration to continue extending the payment pause until the pandemic and the associated economic crisis have been overcome.”

“We know that 10% of discretionary income is quite high for many families,” said Julia Barnard, a researcher at the Center for Responsible Lending, a nonprofit organization that produces research and policy advocacy to protect consumers from predatory lending. On the campaign trail, President Biden proposed lowering that to 5% of a person's discretionary income, which could reduce a monthly loan payment by 50% or more for borrowers. That has not happened yet, however.

Overdraft fees are big money-makers for banks. Before the pandemic, JPMorgan Chase earned about $1.5 billion annually in overdraft fees, Bank of America made $1.1 billion, Wells Fargo collected $1.3 billion and Capital One charged about $150 million, according to a report by the Center for Responsible Lending.

“Bank overdraft fees cause particular harm to low-income consumers and communities of color, who are already disproportionately excluded from the banking mainstream,” said a 2020 report from the Center for Responsible Lending. While the typical overdraft fee is $35, the report said, “the cost to the bank of processing an overdraft transaction, particularly in today’s highly automated environment, is very low.”

“Not only do they have less wealth to borrow on to pay back loans because of the racial wealth gap, but the underfunding of HBCUs compound the financial challenges which result in higher debt for students who attend these schools,” said Rep. Alma Adams, who appeared on a panel hosted by the Center for Responsible Lending(CRL) on Thursday.

Listen to a discussion of the state of the national student loan debt crisis and some relief that the Biden administration has made available.