‘Free’ checking might come with a charge soon, warns Chase

The Wall Street Journal reports the country’s biggest retail bank is warning that it might begin charging customers for their accounts. That would impact some 86 million customers.

The potential charges, says Marianne Lake, CEO of consumer and community banking at JPMorgan, are a result of new regulatory rules that cap overdraft and late fees. Lake says Chase will be passing along those increased expenses to customers, which would put an end to now-free services such as checking accounts and wealth management tools. And she says she expects other banks will follow suit.

The threat of charging for once-free services isn’t a new one. Over a decade ago, many banks said they would add a service fee onto debit cards because of regulatory changes. Few actually did, though, as thet feared a consumer revolt.

That could happen again, especially as consumers struggle with inflation and higher costs of living, but it’s not certain.

The new rules would cap credit card late payments at $8 and overdraft charges at $3. New capital rules would also require them to hod more reserves against mortgages and credit card loans, which could impact consumer loan potentials, banks warn.

“It is not practical for many of the services to be free if we won’t be able to draw from those profit pools,” Lake said.

Of course, whether those rules will go into effect could depend on the results of the November election. Donald Trump could strike them down or dilute them. And banks have brought lawsuits to prevent them from going into effect. Some of those cases are currently pending before judges.