Last Wednesday, U.S. President Joe Biden announced his administration is doing everything it can to decrease the cost of living in the country. The goal now is to make hotel, airline, concert tickets and bank junk fees illegal. 

The statement comes just two weeks before Election Day as polls across the country reveal that the current economic conditions are a top concern for Americans. 

Accompanied by Rohit Chopra and Lina Khan – the CFPB Director and FTC Chair, 

respectively – at the White House, Biden announced a few initiatives to address junk fees from all kinds of different service providers. Junk fees are surprise costs that these companies add to their consumer bills. 

Biden’s speech was billed as an observation on all the new actions to provide American families with more breathing room. The President is well aware of the ongoing frustration amongst most people with how things are at the moment.

The President mentioned how the war in Ukraine has put strains on Europe and all over the world, from blocking food shipment to the cost of oil. He said as the American people question what the government is doing about it, they are doing plenty. 

As the midterm elections approach, Democrats are under popular pressure to display how they’re addressing the high inflation issues. In recent polls, voters are ranking the economy as their top concern, outpacing issues like abortion and democracy threats. These polls also show a voters tendency to favor Republicans when it comes to economic issues. 

In an effort to make junk fees illegal, there are a few measures taking place. First, the CFPB (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau) issued guidance earlier on Wednesday to effectively ban unannounced overdraft fees when a bank customer doesn’t have sufficient funds. 

The same guidance applies to checks that bounce, as the CFPB believes these fees are unlawful and unfair to customers. The CFPB is also developing new rules to apply for other types of banking services and credit card fees. 

Last week, the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) voted to start a rule-making process to decrease junk fees on other services like airline tickets, hotels, concert tickets and funeral homes. 

Biden said they’re only getting started. The President added that there are still tens of billions of dollars in junk fees across many industries. He has directed his administration to either reduce or eliminate all of them. The FTC is now cracking down on unfair and deceptive fees that companies add to consumers bills simply because they can.

The move is expected to help collective Americans to save millions of dollars in unfair junk fees. And improve their way of life by applying that money into their everyday expenses. 

Since junk fees are also part of the credit card industry, you should know exactly how inflation can affect your balance. Follow the link below to learn more on the subject and what you can do to avoid paying high interest.