WASHINGTON, D.C. – A group of consumer, economic justice and civil rights organizations sent a letter to the White House today, urging President Trump to veto S.J. Res 18, legislation that would overturn a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule that limits steep overdraft fees charged by very large banks and credit unions. The CFPB’s rule would put an estimated $5 billion back into the pockets of families that are charged overdraft fees.

The letter notes, “When you ran for office, you pledged to help Americans struggling to keep up with inflation and the high cost of living. You have also publicly criticized credit card companies and called for a cap of 10 percent on excessive credit card interest rates, which burden working families with billions in additional interest charges and penalty fees. Repealing the CFPB’s rule limiting costly overdraft fees would undermine your efforts to address rising costs and leave Americans vulnerable to falling further behind financially.”

The CFPB’s overdraft rule closes a paper check era loophole that has allowed big banks to trick people into paying excessive overdraft fees and earn billions of dollars from the most vulnerable families. Overdraft fees disproportionately impact low- and moderate-income consumers with excessive charges, often for small overdrafts on their accounts, and can trap consumers in debt.

Large banks typically charge $35 for an overdraft, even though most consumers’ debit card overdrafts are for less than $26 and are repaid in three days, which translates into an annual percentage rate (APR) of over 16,000 percent. This stands in contrast to the highest credit card interest rates, which are less than 36 percent APR.

Under the CFPB’s rule, most so-called “courtesy” overdraft fees would be lowered from $35 to $5, saving households that pay overdraft fees an average of $225 a year. The rule gives big banks a variety of options to cover overdrafts, including safer, more transparent overdraft lines of credit with no price limit and the same disclosure requirements as credit cards. The rule only applies to very large institutions with over $10 billion in assets, many of which have already adopted similar protections. Smaller banks and credit unions are completely exempt.

The congressional resolution repealing the overdraft fee limits is just the latest effort to roll back CFPB rules that would significantly lower costs for consumers. Congress voted last week to repeal the CFPB’s rule that gave the Bureau the ability to supervise Big Tech payment app providers and ensure they are protecting consumers from fraud and scams. In addition, Acting CFPB Director Russ Vought has taken steps to kill the CFPB’s credit card penalty fee rule, which would have saved families $10 billion annually.