<prompt> Human: Hello redditors! I direct The Pew Charitable Trusts consumer banking project, which advocates for policies that protect American consumers and their money. As the lead on Pews efforts to improve the safety and transparency of consumer banking products, I direct a team of researchers who identify current practices and consumer needs to inform policy solutions.Previously, I was the financial reform campaign director at the Consumer Federation of America CFA, leading media, coalition, public education, and grassroots efforts to promote consumer financial protection. I have more than 20 years of advocacy, communications, research, grassroots, and legislative experience protecting consumers. Today, my project team released a report through Pew called Checks and Balances, the third annual rating of the largest banks by deposit volume based on their disclosure, overdraft, and dispute resolution policies and practices. You can read that report here: My hope is to help you better understand banking practices, consumer disclosures, overdraft fees, and prepaid card use, disclosure and fees, and I can also talk about what regulators are doing to help make these products safer and clearer to consumers.Go ahead and AMA! EDIT: Well, Ive got to run to another meeting. Thats how my days go! Thanks for your great questions!Assistant: Thanks for joining us and working on this stuff. The overdraft fee ordering is a big one that I see people being hurt by here.Another quandry I encounter a lot thatd Id be interested to hear from you on - currently, as I understand it, you need to be 18 to open your own checking account. We regularly get posts here from teenagers that are in challenging family situations who are doing an impressive job going out and getting jobs and preparing to become or already are independent but lack and adult they trust to cosign on a checking account. These kids will end up either stockpiling cash or frequently in somewhat questionable situations with Paypal accounts. Do you have any suggestions for what we should recommend they do to safely store and protect their hard-earned money?Human: Hi, thanks for the question. Firam below is correct. Someone under 18 is going to have a hard time getting any sort of account, since they are considered a minor. They could purchase a prepaid card at a store like CVS or WalMart and load their money on it, but its going to be tough if theres no adult to rely on.By the way, I totally agree on the reordering of transactions from high to low - really confuses people and makes it hard to know how much money is in the account. Weve developed an interactive that explains how this works in case anyone wants to check it out.  <response>: Hey Susan, I work for one of the largest prepaid companies in the U.S. At least for our cards, you will not be able to use the card as a debit card ie load more money onto the card if you are under 18. So unfortunately this is not a good option unless an adult can be the primary account holder for you. 