Defend Your Dollars

Banking

Some bank accounts come with hidden fees and complicated terms which often end up costing you. Consumers Union advocates for upfront pricing and fair practices so that you don’t end up losing your deposits.

Blog Posts

• Consumers Union Opposes the Check Truncation Act
  Posted 01/18/02 at 12:36 am

  Many consumers still get their checks back; this marketplace option would be eliminated by the Act.

• Survey finds large banks charge non-customer check-cashing fees
  Posted 10/12/01 at 11:42 pm

  A CU survey of Texas banks revealed that the banks charging non-customer check-cashing fees are among the state’s biggest banks

• Noncustomer check fees reinforce financial divide
  Posted at 7:48 pm

  The rising costs of having a bank account combined with the lack of access to a local bank and branch offices have made keeping an open bank account difficult for some families.

• California Signs Contract With Citicorp To Privatize Delivery Of Food Stamps And Welfare Benefits
  Posted 07/31/01 at 2:25 am

  CU urges state to monitor citicorp’s performance to ensure that recipients enjoy easy, cost-free access to benefits

• Electronic Benefit Transfer
  Posted 04/01/01 at 11:12 pm

  A new system for distribution of food stamps and possibly cash benefits

• Summary of the California Depart. of Social Services’ invitation to partner for electronic benefits
  Posted 10/30/00 at 11:18 pm

  Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT), the way to deliver food stamps and potentially cash benefits is federally mandated in all states in 2002

• Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) Programs: Best practices to serve recipients
  Posted 09/29/00 at 11:30 pm

  This report is intended to be useful to EBT program administrators and consumer advocates throughout the U.S.

• CU urges California to make new computer system for distributing public assistance benefits user-friendly
  Posted 08/29/00 at 11:24 pm

  State officials are negotiating contract with Citicorp, which has been criticized in other states for providing inadequate service to recipients

• CU urges public input in state computer contract to handle $4.9 billion in public assistance benefits
  Posted 08/09/99 at 11:36 pm

  The state began a process last week of selecting a private contractor to design and run a multi-billion dollar computer system to deliver food stamps and potentially welfare cash benefits.

• Recipients of electronic food stamps should have same protections as bank customers
  Posted 12/22/98 at 11:41 pm

  Families must not risk losing food if debit card is lost or stolen