…is the title of this informative story from WSJ's MarketWatch about a new study from the Pew Charitable Trusts released today. The takeaway is that although most consumers don't read banking-contract fine print (the median length of which is 44 pages),
more banks are adding verbiage to their checking account fine print that prevents customers from suing the bank individually or as part of a class-action lawsuit, a study released Wednesday by The Pew Charitable Trusts reveals. What’s more, some banks require consumers who pursue a claim against the bank to pay the bank’s expenses — regardless of the outcome of the dispute.
Among the chief dangers, as always, are mandatory arbitration clauses, which the study found were included in the fine print for 70% of checking accounts.
Check out the study itself here.