Banks Hiding the Most (and Least) Fees

Banks That Do Not Hide Fees

3. U.S. Bank
>Online Disclosures: 9 of 9
>Information Available on Account Webpage: 3 of 9
>Information Unavailable Online or at Branch: 0 of 9
>Revenue: $21.4 billion

Minneapolis-based U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) is among the top three banks when it comes to disclosure transparency. All of the disclosures are available online. The bank places its minimum deposit to open an account and monthly fee information right on the account webpage, and it was one of only a handful of banks to place its information regarding the extended overdraft penalty fee online. Unlike many of the larger money-center banks on this list, U.S. Bank operates in only 25 states. The firm does not have the massive investment banking, M&A and trading operations that larger banks have. U.S. Bank has $341 billion in assets and is the fifth-largest commercial bank in America. The bank has substantial mortgage and credit card operations.

2. JP Morgan Chase Bank
>Online Disclosures: 9 of 9
>Information Available on Account Webpage: 3 of 9
>Information Unavailable Online or at Branch: 0 of 9
>Revenue: $110.84 billion

Large banks often gets a bad rap for not being upfront with customers about checking accounts. But Chase, the largest U.S. bank in terms of assets, has all of the disclosures available online, a few of them even available directly on the account holder’s webpage. In March, the company also became one of only a few banks to adopt Pew’s disclosure box, which places all the information in an easy-to-read schedule.

JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM) has been considered the best-run bank in the United States since the credit crash of 2008. CEO Jamie Dimon was able to steer the firm’s activity away from many of the derivative credit instruments that so badly damaged Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) and Citigroup (NYSE: C). JP Morgan’s management tarnished its reputation recently when it was forced to announce that it had lost at least $2 billion in trades done in its London office. Those losses are expected to rise.

1. Bank of America
>Online Disclosures: 9 of 9
>Information Available on Account Webpage: 5 of 9
>Information Unavailable Online or at Branch: 0 of 9
>Revenue: $115.37 billion

Bank of America infuriated many customers last fall when it attempted to implement a $5 fee for using a debit card. It comes as a surprise then that the bank is the most transparent one out of the 12 banks in the survey. All the disclosure information Pew looked for is available online. In fact, Bank of America spelled out the extended overdraft penalty fee directly on the account webpage, the only institution to do so. Although Bank of America has not adopted the same schedule as Chase Bank, Weinstock said it has been receptive to Pew’s recommendations.

Bank of America has been considered the worst-run of the large banks. Its buyout of Merrill Lynch in late 2008 cost the bank billions of dollars in losses. It still uses the Merrill brand for much of its brokerage and personal financial operations. Bank of America also bought mortgage lending giant Countrywide Credit in early 2008. Losses from Countrywide’s large prime-prime mortgage portfolio further damaged Bank of America’s balance sheet.