Bank ID-theft charges rankle privacy groups

MSNBC - October 9, 2005
Collectively, identity theft costs Oregonians $5 billion annually. Individually, it could cost them between $9.99 and $15 a month in bank fees to protect their financial information. Lenders offering the fee-based identity theft services say the safeguards help victims navigate several layers that only tangentially relate to their bank. It's thus necessary to charge administrative fees, the lenders say. Advocates say the practice plays on consumer fears while offering extras that should come standard with normal bank accounts.

The Chapell View
I agree with the advocates on this one. Financial institutions play a significant role in the data trafficking industry in the U.S. So its extremely disingenuous for banks to charge customers to solve the very problem that they helped to create.