"Add another to the list of far-out fees: one for paying your bill. On time.
Say you like to give your financial details to a real person rather than a machine. That'll be $5. Or maybe you prefer, or need, to hand your money to someone at the phone or cable company at the last minute to avoid having service cut off. That'll be $5.
Though the practice may sound absurd, it's hardly a surprise given today's blossoming market for creative fee finding. As companies strive to keep listed prices low and earnings high, fees have become a quick and handy back-end way to raise revenue.
Fees began as a method to nudge customers into less costly behavior, said Matt Fellowes, the project director at The Pew Charitable Trusts. (It costs a company $5 to $7, on average, for an agent to process a bill payment over the phone versus $1 to $2 for an automated system, according to Jupiter Research.)
But along the way, "these institutions discovered that there's actually opportunity to build revenue off those consumers that won't be nudged," Fellowes said. "So the fees became not just punitive for these individuals, they became kind of profit drivers for these institutions." (Banks raked in nearly $40 billion in fees in the States last year; credit card fees accounted for $18.1 billion.)"
"'Hidden or unexpected' fees are the No. 1 reason given by the working poor for closing bank accounts, a recent study found. The study by the Safe Banking Opportunities Project, a project of the Pew Health Group, surveyed 2,000 predominantly low-income, Hispanic households in the Los Angeles area in a two-phase study. Study participants were screened and recruited through a door-to-door, interviewer-administered survey."
More info"Hidden bank fees are pushing the working poor out of mainstream banking and into riskier, more expensive alternatives to managing their personal finances. A new study released by the Pew Charitable Trusts provides a stark snapshot of how banks’ embrace of sneaky fees hurt the most vulnerable consumers."
More infoLos "cargos ocultos o inesperados" fueron mencionados como la razón principal por la cual los trabajadores pobres del Gran Los Ángeles, aquellos que tienen empleo pero que incluso así permanecen en pobreza relativa, cerraron cuentas de banco el pasado año, por encima de razones como la pérdida del empleo o la falta de dinero, según una encuesta en hogares predominantemente hispanos y de bajos ingresos dada a conocer por el Safe Banking Opportunities Project (Proyecto Oportunidades para Banca Segura) del Pew Health Group.
More info“Hidden or unexpected fees” were cited as the number one reason Greater Los Angeles’ working poor – those who are employed yet remain in relative poverty– closed bank accounts in the past year, surpassing job loss or lack of money, according to a survey of predominately Hispanic, low-income households released by the Pew Health Group’s Safe Banking Opportunities Project.
"Hidden or unexpected fees” were cited as the number one reason Greater Los Angeles’ working poor, those who are employed yet remain in relative poverty, closed bank accounts in the past year, surpassing job loss or lack of money, according to a survey of predominately Hispanic, low-income households.
More info''If you've ever thought someone was playing fast and lose with the rules on your credit cards, credit score or mortgage, but you had no idea where to go with your complaint, you now have a place to turn.''
More info"A new study from the Pew Health Group shows a growing number of low income and minority families are using alternative financial services instead of the traditional banking system."
More info"Unbanked and underbanked consumers are also less likely to save, says Eleni Constantine, director of the Pew Health Group's Financial Services Portfolio. In a survey of low-income Los Angeles households, Pew found that more than twice as many consumers who had bank accounts said they were earning enough to pay their bills and save for the future than those who didn't have bank accounts."
More infoHalf of low-income families in Greater Los Angeles turn to costly and unregulated alternative financial services (AFS) rather than banks to meet their monetary needs, according to a new survey released today by the Pew Health Group’s Safe Banking Opportunities Project.
More info"Half of low-income families in Greater Los Angeles turn to costly and unregulated alternative financial services (AFS) rather than banks to meet their monetary needs, according to a new survey released today by the Pew Health Group’s Safe Banking Opportunities Project"
More infoThis study compares banked and unbanked families across several categories including financial behavior, economic status and perceptions of the financial service industry.
More infoThe Pew Health Group’s Safe Banking Opportunities Project responds to the FDIC’s request for comment, published at 75 FR 20357, (April 13, 2010) on potential changes to the survey instrument for the National Unbanked and Underbanked Household Survey.
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"Dozens of cities are launching programs to sign up low income people as customers at commercial banks so they can avoid the high fees typical of check cashing stores and payday lenders."
More info"In 1986, when the Lower East Side had just one bank in a 100-square-block area, the high numbers of residents without bank accounts alarmed the city but did not surprise anyone. In the years since, the number of bank branches has skyrocketed, with the big names compelled to open in underserved areas."
More infoCopyright(c) 1996-2012 The Pew Charitable Trusts. All Rights Reserved.
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