A crackdown on credit-card fees has saved consumers $20 billion

Regulators cracked down on consumer banks' lending practices after the financial crisis, and a report pubslihed Thursday by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau highlights how much those new regulations saved consumers.

The agency, created after the crisis, analyzed up to 90% of banks' credit cards in the US marketplace and identified more than $20 billion in savings for Americans in light of new regulations.

Implemented in 2009, the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act (CARD Act) aimed to curb banking fees and excessive rates charged. The CFPB took over responsibility for the biennial report in 2011, and it tracked credit-card data from that time forward.

The new regulations saved consumers $9 billion in overlimit fees, $7 billion in late fees, and $4 billion in other fees, such as add-on fees, balance-transfer fees, cash-advance fees, and foreign-transaction fees, according to the report. The total savings added up to $20 billion from 2011 to 2014.

"The pre-2009 credit card market was one in which huge numbers of consumers were at needless risk due in large part to inconsistent billing practices, pricing changes, and the proliferation of back-end fees, among other issues," CFPB director Richard Cordray said in a statement.

Here's how consumers are doing better on card fees in the wake of the financial crisis: