Robert Allen, CEO of the 218,000-member, $4 billion Teachers Federal Credit Union, joined executives from Citibank, Bank of America and other banks to tell the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau how his CU and CUs in general handle checking accounts and overdraft protections.
The Long Island-based CU is one of the nation’s largest and the CFPB has announced its intent to look at overdraft protection programs and fees.
Allen explained the credit union’s courtesy transfer program, which allows members to have money moved from other deposit accounts to cover checking overdrafts to save members money. He also said that credit unions generally charger fewer and lower checking and overdraft fees.
“Representing TFCU, the Credit Union National Association and the Credit Union Association of New York allowed me to express our concerns to Director Cordray and his team,” Allen said. “I stressed that it is important for banks and credit unions to offer financial service products that are sensible and reasonably priced. Providing full disclosure as well as easy-to-understand materials which describe all fees is a practice that all financial institutions should follow.”
