President Biden Delivers Remarks On Eliminating Junk Fees

Forbes Breaking News

President Biden delivered remarks on Wednesday on eliminating junk fees.

Transcript

00:00 you waiting.

00:01 Thank you, Becky, for that introduction

00:03 and for sharing your story.

00:06 That's familiar to so many families.

00:09 This gets down to a basic problem,

00:12 a basic circumstance, just about fairness --

00:14 just about simple fairness.

00:16 You know, folks are being --

00:18 tired of being taken advantage of

00:21 and being played for suckers.

00:23 That's why I'm here with the Director

00:25 of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau,

00:28 Rohit Chopra. Where are you, Rohit?

00:31 There you are. Stand up. Let people see you are.

00:33 (Applause.)

00:36 And the Chair of the Federal Trade Commission,

00:38 Lena Khan. Lena, stand up.

00:39 (Applause.)

00:45 They're members of the Competition Council

00:48 that I created to promote competition

00:50 across the economy and lower costs for families.

00:52 And I'm not going to introduce everybody,

00:54 but, you know, we wouldn't be getting anywhere

00:56 without the incredible support of the members of Congress

00:59 who are here today.

01:00 And we may have to go back and actually change the law,

01:04 change the circumstances.

01:05 And so, I'm counting on you.

01:07 Anyway, would all the members of Congress stand up

01:09 so everybody can see you?

01:11 (Applause.)

01:19 In any fight I'm in, that's the team I want on my side.

01:22 Look, one of the key things I've asked the Council to tackle

01:26 are the unfair fees known as "junk fees" --

01:30 those hidden charges that companies sneak into your bill

01:33 to make you pay more because they can --

01:36 just simply because they can.

01:38 Charges that are taking real money

01:40 out of the pockets of American families.

01:42 These junk fees can add up hundreds of dollars

01:45 weighing down family budgets,

01:47 making it harder to pay family bills.

01:49 These junk fees may not matter to the wealthy,

01:52 but they sure matter to working folks in homes

01:55 like the one I grew up in.

01:57 The way I think about it is the way my dad talked about it

02:00 and the way so many of you at home

02:02 talk about it around the kitchen table.

02:04 How much are your monthly bills?

02:07 And after they're all paid,

02:09 how much do you have left for necessities?

02:11 It's enough -- is there enough left over

02:14 just to give you a little bit of breathing room?

02:16 Well, these junk fees suck up all that breathing room,

02:19 among other things.

02:21 Now, think of today. How many folks are asking,

02:24 how much more do they have to pay

02:25 to cover those hidden junk fees that really add up?

02:28 You know, over the past two years,

02:31 my administration has taken,

02:32 with the help of the members of Congress,

02:34 a number of steps to crack down on unfair

02:36 and deceptive junk fees in banking,

02:39 hotels, concert, airlines, retail housing --

02:43 or, excuse me, rental housing, cable, Internet, healthcare --

02:47 a whole range of issues. A whole range of them.

02:50 For example, two summers ago,

02:53 if your flight was canceled or delayed,

02:55 almost no major airline guaranteed anything

02:59 other than costing you a fee to rebook that,

03:02 even if it was their fault. You had to pay a fee to rebook.

03:05 Now, 10 airlines rebook for free.

03:09 And I'm looking to get the law passed so none of them can --

03:14 they all have to do that.

03:17 And that -- that's a win for consumers.

03:19 Other companies have also responded to my call for action.

03:23 And adopted so-called "all-in, up-front pricing."

03:26 That's where companies fully disclose their fees up front

03:30 when you start -- when you start shopping.

03:32 And there's no real surprise at the end when you check out.

03:36 This summer, I hosted business leaders at an event

03:39 to announce the voluntary changes

03:41 that companies like Airbnb, Dice,

03:44 and others were making to provide customers

03:46 with an all-in, up-front pricing.

03:49 So there's no surprise.

03:51 Tens of millions of Americans have already benefited from this.

03:55 And that's progress.

03:57 Today, I'm proud to announce that my administration

03:59 is taking our most comprehensive action ever

04:02 to eliminate junk fees and -- and fees in industries

04:05 and sectors across the board, across the entire economy.

04:09 You know, if these rules are finalized,

04:12 they won't just be voluntarily; they'll be made mandatory.

04:16 Mandatory. Because we do more than embarrass the company;

04:19 we make them mandatory. (Applause.)

04:21 But first, here's how.

04:23 The Federal Trade Commission is proposing a new rule

04:26 that would ban hidden fees across the economy

04:29 and require companies to show consumers

04:31 the all-in pricing up front -- up front.

04:36 (Applause.)

04:37 And that includes what these fees are for,

04:40 how much they amount to in full, and whether they are refundable.

04:45 Research shows that without -- without realizing it,

04:49 folks can end up paying as much as 20 percent more

04:52 because of hidden junk fees than they would have paid

04:55 if they could see the full price up front

04:58 and compare it with other options.

05:00 It's wrong. It's wrong.

05:01 It's just taking advantage of people.

05:03 And it makes it harder for honest businesses

05:05 who are trying to do the right thing

05:07 to compete with dishonest companies

05:09 who trick customers into thinking their price are lower

05:12 when they, in fact, are not.

05:15 Look, if this proposed rule is finalized as proposed,

05:19 the FTC would have the power to impose financial penalties

05:23 on companies that don't disclose their full up-front price

05:27 and secure refunds for customers who have been defrauded

05:30 by companies charging hidden fees.

05:32 Second, consumer --

05:35 the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

05:37 is banning bank fees and credit unions for charging fees

05:43 for basic service like checking your account balance --

05:47 checking your account balance, retrieving old bank records,

05:51 or looking up your balance on a loan.

05:54 You know, some banks charge as much as $30

05:58 for these services every time you call.

06:00 It's outrageous. It's really outrageous.

06:03 And today, they're making clear that the --

06:06 we're making clear these fees are now illegal.

06:09 Look, we're not stopping there.

06:12 There are tens of billions of dollars

06:14 in other junk fees across the economy and have direct --

06:17 I've directed my administration to crack down on them as well.

06:20 For example, later this month,

06:22 the CFPB will -- will propose another new rule

06:26 that would require banks to make it easier

06:29 for customers to switch banks --

06:30 something banks have made really difficult for folks to do.

06:34 This new rule would increase competition

06:36 and deter junk fees.

06:38 All of these actions are going to make a real difference

06:41 in people's lives. We're already seeing how.

06:44 Today, for example, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

06:47 released a report showing that, since I took office,

06:50 nearly two-thirds of the largest banks

06:52 have eliminated bounce-check fees entirely.

06:56 That was a lot of money. (Applause.)

07:00 And by the way, they calculated these bounce-check fees

07:03 for consumers have declined by nearly $2 billion.

07:07 This isn't -- this isn't chump change.

07:10 This is a lot of money -- by $2 billion.

07:12 And that's close to a 90 percent reduction.

07:15 In addition, we've secured $140 million in refunds

07:20 for consumers who are charged illegal junk fees by these banks.

07:24 And look, and we're also sending new guidance

07:27 to every federal agency

07:29 on how they can promote real competition in their work.

07:32 You know, and as we take these actions --

07:36 I continue to call on Congress to pass what my friends

07:39 in the front row here mostly support --

07:41 Junk Fee -- the Junk Fee Pre- --

07:43 Junk Fee Prevention Act. Hard to say.

07:47 Anyway, but all kidding aside, I'm asking Congress

07:50 to take the action so this makes it a matter of law.

07:54 Today's actions are part of my broader economic vision

07:57 to move from trickle-down economics

08:00 to what everyone in The Wall Street Journal

08:02 and Financial Times began to call "binomics."

08:05 I don't think they meant it as a compliment at first.

08:07 (Laughter and applause.)

08:09 It's about growing the economy from the middle out

08:11 and the bottom up, not the top down.

08:13 Last week's jobs report shows binomics is working.

08:17 We added 336,000 jobs last month.

08:21 (Applause.)

08:22 We've created more than --

08:23 we've created more than 13,900,000 new jobs

08:29 since I've taken office. That's more than any President

08:31 ever has in all of history.

08:33 That's more than -- look.

08:35 And the unemployment rate has stayed below 4 percent

08:39 for 20 straight months -- the longest stretch in 50 years.

08:43 (Applause.)

08:44 So, look, and inflation continues to fall,

08:47 down nearly 60 percent from last summer.

08:49 And now we have the lowest inflation

08:50 of any major economy in the world,

08:53 and we're going to make it lower.

08:54 (Applause.)

08:56 And in August, we announced the first 10 prescription drugs

08:59 that Medicare selected for negotiation

09:02 under the Inflation Reduction Act.

09:04 That's a fancy way of saying, for many years,

09:06 a big pharma blocked us along the way.

09:07 They kept prescription drug prices high

09:11 and increased their profits,

09:12 extended patents on their existing drugs,

09:15 and it suppressed the competition

09:16 instead of innovating.

09:17 By the way, you order a prescription drug

09:20 made in the United States of America,

09:22 you buy it in New York City or Washington,

09:25 D.C. or Omaha, Nebraska, it costs a hell of a lot more

09:29 than the same exact drug by the same company

09:32 sold in Toronto, Canada, London, Rome,

09:36 anywhere else in the world.

09:37 Same exact drug. You know, playing games with pricing

09:41 so they could charge whatever they want.

09:43 But this time, we finally beat big pharma.

09:48 (Applause.)

09:51 How long have we been trying to do this?

09:53 This has been going on a long time.

09:55 None of the women in the front row here

09:56 have been around for more than two or three years,

09:58 but some of the guys have been here for a hell of a long time.

10:00 But all kidding aside, think about it.

10:02 We've been fighting this fight for a long, long time,

10:06 long before I was President or Vice President.

10:08 We passed the Inflation Reduction Act

10:10 with no help from any of our Republican friends.

10:13 Every single one voted against it,

10:15 but maybe they all see the light.

10:16 And among many important things it does,

10:19 it finally gives Medicare the ability to negotiate

10:22 lower prescription drug prices like they can do in the --

10:26 with Veterans Affairs, like they do now.

10:29 That's not all. And by the way,

10:30 that not only saves the consumer,

10:33 it reduces the federal budget. Because guess what?

10:37 We don't have to pay that money out --

10:39 taxpayers' money -- to reward these companies for overcharging.

10:42 (Applause.)

10:44 It's something everybody forgets. It's over --

10:46 well over a billion do- -- anyway,

10:48 I won't get into how much it saved,

10:49 but I've kept you sitting too long.

10:51 But seniors on Medicare are now paying

10:54 as much as $400 a month for insulin.

10:57 Well, now they're just going to pay $35 a month.

10:59 And I might know, it costs these companies $10

11:04 to make the insulin -- $10.

11:07 To package it, you might be able to get it to $12.

11:09 And they're still getting paid $35,

11:12 which is almost a 300 percent increase --

11:14 more than a 300 percent increase.

11:16 I don't get why -- anyway.

11:18 We're also capping total out-of-pocket costs

11:22 for seniors on Medicare at $2,000 a year,

11:26 even for expensive cancer drugs.

11:28 And it costs $10,000, $12,000, $14,000 a year.

11:30 No matter what your prescription drug costs are beginning

11:34 next year, no matter how much they are,

11:37 no senior is going to have to pay more than $2,000.

11:39 (Applause.)

11:40 Two thousand dollars. And it matters.

11:43 Look, let me close with this. When I ran for President,

11:47 I promised we would not continue the trickle-down economics

11:49 of the past. Because here's the simple truth.

11:52 Trickle-down economics represent,

11:54 at the moment, we walked away from how this country's

11:57 middle class was built, in my view.

11:59 Not a lot trickle-down on my dad's kitchen table,

12:03 I don't recall.

12:04 Bidenomics is another way of saying,

12:06 "Restoring the American Dream."

12:08 Trickle-down limited the dream to those at the top.

12:11 But I believe that every American willing to do hard work

12:15 should be able to achieve it no matter where they live

12:18 and every part of the country.

12:20 That's the American Dream. That's Bidenomics.

12:23 And that's why I can honestly say I've never been more

12:25 optimistic about America's future.

12:27 We just have to remember who we are.

12:29 We're the United States of America, for God's sake.

12:32 There's nothing -- and I mean this sincerely --

12:34 there's nothing beyond our capacity when we work together.

12:38 So, God bless you all. Thank you for the strong support.

12:42 And may God protect our troops. Thank you. Thank you.

12:45 (Applause.)

Category

Transcript

Recommended