Six Problems the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Should Tackle First

America needs to clean up student loans, make reverse mortgages easier to understand and crack down on payday loans. These problems and more await the soon-to-be-born Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Overdraft Protection

Six Problems the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Should Tackle First

Steve Hix / Somos Images / Corbis

The recently passed Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act does a good job of getting rid of a number of the most abusive debit- and credit-card practices, including the automatic fee when you charge a purchase on your debit card that exceeds the amount of money you have in the bank. But consumer advocates say there are still some issues when it comes to so-called overdraft fees. First of all, they still exist with banks and ATM withdrawals. Like with debit-card purchases, consumer advocates say bank customers should be asked if they want the service and to pay for the relatively high fees that come with it before being automatically enrolled.

"We think that what the banks charge for these [overdraft] loans are not at all in line with the risk that the banks take," says Travis Plunkett of the Consumer Federation of America.

See the overdraft campaign of banks.

View the full list for "Six Problems the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Should Tackle First"