The mandate of the 2024 election was clear: lower costs and higher wages. Both the Trump Administration and Congress leaders pledged to address rising prices. While they have caused havoc and instability in our government, little has been done to deliver on this promise to the voters. Instead, many Texans, particularly within the Hispanic community, are still struggling to keep money in their wallets. Take for example excessive and annoying banking fees.
Our UnidosUS survey on Latinos and credit services in Texas paints a harsh picture: over half of Texans reported paying a bank fee in the past year. These fees — overdraft charges, ATM fees and annual card fees — are more than just a nuisance; they’re a significant financial strain. Overdraft fees are among the most harmful. Consumers can be charged as much as $35 per overdraft, sometimes multiple times a day. These fees accumulate rapidly, costing individual consumers hundreds of dollars per year and collectively amounting to as much as $15 billion nationwide. Latinos, most of whom are working class, are disproportionately affected, with one out of every three Latinos in Texas reporting they paid an overdraft fee last year. Many of them paid over $100 in overdraft fees.
For many working-class Texans, these fees are more than just inconvenient. It can mean making a painful choice like skipping a meal, being late on rent or skipping the month’s utility payment — all of which can trigger more fees and create additional hardships — both short and long term. As the price of essential goods like eggs continue to rise, these excessive bank fees add up and add to the already high cost of living across our state. Where consumers should have a choice, most of us don’t and must have a relationship with a bank just to handle everyday life. Hidden or excessive bank fees make it difficult to manage our money, much less keep more of it in our wallet.
Last year, in an effort to address this, the independent consumer watch dog agency issued a rule that capped overdraft fees at $5 per transaction — a move estimated to save consumers $5 billion annually or about $225 per household. Rather than building on this and addressing what voters actually care about, the Trump administration and Elon Musk have gutted the consumer watchdog agency and leaders in Congress are seeking a vote to remove this cap.
Food prices are up and getting higher. Housing is still unaffordable and also getting higher. Markets are volatile and we are facing fresh threats of an economic recession — one that the Trump administration says we should look forward to as if it’s a good thing for voters or the economy. Few if any, working-class Texans are better off this year compared to last. Congress is in fact threatening to do more harm to the economic lives of workers with its latest budget proposals that would cut health care coverage for millions.
Political leaders in Congress made a promise to lower costs. It is time for them to do their job and keep that promise.
Editor’s Note: The above guest column was penned by Eric Holguín, Texas State Director of UnidosUS, the nation’s largest Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization. The column appears in the Rio Grande Guardian with the permission of the author. Holguín can be reached by email via: eholguin@unidosus.org
