Biden targets ‘junk fees’ for credit cards, travel, cable

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President Joe Biden delivers remarks in the East Room of the White House in Washington on Wednesday as he meets with his Competition Council on progress his administration has made to increase competition in the American economy. Photo by Oliver Contreras/UPI | License Photo
Feb. 1 (UPI) — President Joe Biden has announced new progress on his “competition agenda” to cut junk fees from credit cards, airline tickets, Internet services, and hotels. The president announced two new actions Wednesday, during the fourth meeting of his Competition Council, to promote economic fairness. Advertisement
The first action would slash “excessive credit card late fees.” The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau plans to cut late fees from the typical $31 charge to $8, which the administration estimates could save consumers as much as $9 billion a year.
“Today’s rule proposes to cut those fees from $31 on average to $8. That change is expected to save tens of millions of dollars for Americans,” Biden said during the meeting at the White House.
The second action announced Wednesday could give consumers more control over their mobile devices. The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which released a report Wednesday, is calling for changes that would boost competition for mobile app developers. The report also cited the need to help consumers get apps outside of the current app store model, which is controlled by Apple and Google.
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During Wednesday’s meeting, Biden also called on Congress to pass the Junk Fee Protection Act.
“And today, I’m calling on Congress to pass the Junk Fee Protection Act to ban four of the most frustrating charges Americans face,” Biden announced.
Among the four fees the president wants to target are airlines charging passengers to select a seat so they “can sit near their child” and hotels charging resort fees which he said “can be over $50 a night.”
“And third, you should be able to switch your Internet, cable or cellphone plan without the $200 early termination penalty some of these companies charge,” the president added.
“And fourth, you should lower the huge service fees that companies like TicketMaster slap onto tickets for concerts and sporting events that can easily add hundreds of bucks to a family’s night out,” Biden said.
“Over the next few weeks, my team is going to meet with state and local officials across the country to identify things they can do to crack down on junk fees in their own jurisdictions,” Biden said as he called on all service providers to list fees up front on “clear, easy to read labels.”
In addition to Wednesday’s new actions, Biden reviewed what the Competition Council has accomplished since its September 2022 meeting, when the president urged agencies to focus on reducing junk fees.
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“We have convinced major airlines to rebook canceled flights for free, rather than charging customers for rebooking,” Biden said.
“We’ve pushed banks to stop pushing surprise overdraft and bounced-check fees, saving Americans an estimated billion dollars a year,” he added.
“Last month, we took a big step toward promoting competition in the labor market, when the Federal Trade Commission proposed the rule banning non-compete agreements for 30 million Americans,” the president said.
“Look, the bottom line is this. These fees add up,” Biden said. “It’s a basic question of fairness and with the help of the people in this room, we’re going to keep building an economy that’s fair, an economy that’s competitive and an economy that works for everyone.”