Checking accounts are a “fundamental product” for consumers, but that doesn’t stop some banks from falling short in their disclosures and, more importantly, engaging in abusive overdraft fee practices, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts.

Interestingly, this call for improved overdraft practices comes as overdraft revenue drops at financial institutions. During the first quarter of 2013, overdraft revenue dropped $1 billion to $31.1 billion, according to Moebs Services, a consulting firm.

“Overdraft revenue is starting to act like a barometer of sluggish economy,” said Michael Moebs, economist and CEO of Moebs Services, told CUNA. “With the net pay of Americans suffering a jolt under the Affordable Health Care Act’s provisions of increased taxes starting Jan. 1, savvy checking account users are fine tuning their finances and reducing expenses especially deposit service charges.”

This would imply that no matter what Pew says, overdraft revenue is becoming less substantial for banks.