NJ Asks U.S. House of Representatives to Vote No on Lifting Limits on Fees

Letter

TRENTON —  Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin today joined a multistate comment letter urging the U.S. House of Representatives to vote against a joint resolution that would allow very large banks to keep charging customers high overdraft fees on their accounts.

Banks that offer “overdraft protection”—that is, cover charges that overdraft customers’ accounts—often impose fees that average around $35 for each such overdraft. These fees are assessed even where the overdraft is small. Most overdrafts are for less than $26 and are repaid within three days.

In December 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a Final Rule that places common-sense limits on allowable overdraft fees by very large banks (i.e., more than $10 billion in assets). The Final Rule would cap overdraft fees at $5 or, alternatively, the amount that would cover the bank’s actual costs from providing overdraft protection.

However, last month, the Senate narrowly passed its own version of a resolution that would overturn this reasonable rule. If the House of Representatives follows suit, banks will continue assessing these predatory charges for overdrafts. In 2023, banks generated $5.8 billion in revenue from these fees.

“New Jerseyans, like the rest of Americans, are already facing rising prices and an uncertain economic future due to the actions of the federal administration over the past 11 weeks,” said Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin. “It is unclear to me why elected representatives would vote against consumers and take the side of the largest banks with billions of dollars in profits.”

“Overdraft fees have become profit drivers for banks, generating billions in revenue at the expense of consumers,” said Cari Fais, Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs.  “Consumers faced with these junk fees are effectively paying extremely high-interest loans that go well beyond the expenses banks incur related to overdrafts. We urge the House to preserve commonsense limits on these fees.”

This is not the first time New Jersey has taken action to protect consumers by ensuring a robust CFPB. In February 2025, Attorney General Platkin co-led a multistate coalition to warn against efforts by the Trump Administration and Elon Musk to defund and disband the CFPB. In 2024, New Jersey supported CFPB rulemaking to increase consumer protections for people using digital payment services. In 2022, New Jersey backed efforts to fight alleged illegal debt collection in the student loan industry.

Other states signing onto the letter include Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia. The Hawaii Office of Consumer Protection also joined the coalition.

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