Bank accounts, fees, and protecting yourself from fraud

Grade 12 Social Studies Worksheet

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Cards A and B on prices, interest and two savers. Card A, "Prices and the federal funds rate". Compare chart "Prices and the federal funds rate" (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, through FRED, retrieved Nov 14, 2026), columns Year | CPI-U (1982-84 = 100) | Effective federal funds rate (%): 2019 | 255.657 | 2.16; 2020 | 258.811 | 0.38; 2021 | 270.970 | 0.08; 2022 | 292.655 | 1.68; 2023 | 304.702 | 5.02; 2024 | 313.689 | 5.14. Note: the CPI-U is a price index: a rise means higher prices. The effective federal funds rate is the rate banks charge each other for overnight loans, the rate the Federal Reserve steers. Both are annual averages. Card B, "Two savers" (made up). Dee put $2,000 into a savings account on January 1, 2022, at 1.5% a year. Ravi put $2,000 into a savings account on January 1, 2023, at 4.5% a year. Each took out nothing for a year, and each account paid its rate once, at year's end. For each year's price rise, use the change in the annual-average CPI-U on card A from the year before.

3. 1.

   Ari uses cards A and B. Which statement about the two savers best fits what happened to their buying power?

   • Dee's balance bought less at year's end, while Ravi's bought slightly more
   • Both gained buying power, since both balances grew and Ravi's rate is three times Dee's
   • Dee did better than Ravi, since the funds rate was nearer Dee's rate than Ravi's
   • Ravi gained about 4.5 percent in buying power, the rate his account paid
4. 2.

   Bo writes one claim from card A for a class debate on the Fed. Which claim does the card support best?

   Use the picture in question 1.

   • Inflation fell in each year the rate rose, so higher rates cut inflation
   • The rate rose from 0.08 to 5.14 as price rises peaked in 2022 and eased, but cause is not shown
   • The rate was higher in 2024 than in 2021
   • Raising the rate in 2022 ended the price rise, since prices rose more slowly in each year after that
5. 3.

   Esme rebases card A so 2019 equals 100. Which statement about prices from 2019 to 2024 holds in either base year?

   Use the picture in question 1.

   • Prices rose about 23 percent, so each item in the basket rose by that amount
   • Prices rose 58 percent, since the index went up 58 points from 2019 to 2024 on the printed card
   • Prices rose about 23 percent; a base year changes the index numbers, not the size of the rise
   • Prices rose more on the 1982–84 base, since its index numbers are larger

6. Use this

   Cards A and B on a checking account at Credit Union Q. Card A. Compare chart "Credit Union Q checking account" (made up for practice), columns Fee rule | Amount: Monthly fee | $12; Fee waived when | the balance never falls below $1,500 on any day of the month; Savings account at Credit Union Q | pays 4% a year; Checking account | pays no interest. Note: invented credit union, made up for practice. Card B, "A fee change" (made up). Credit Union Q raised its monthly checking fee from $10 to $12 and kept the waiver rule. Accounts paying the fee went from 5,000 to 4,700. Nothing else about the accounts changed that year.

8. 4.

   Kira's checking balance runs near $1,200, and savings pays 4 percent. Is moving $300 into checking to reach $1,500 worth it?

   • No, because 4 percent on the whole savings balance beats a $12 fee
   • No, because savings pays 4 percent and checking pays nothing, so the $300 should stay in savings
   • Yes, because moving any amount into checking waives the fee
   • Yes: $300 saves a $12 monthly fee, far more than the $1 a month it would earn in savings
9. 5.

   One day a month Luz's balance drops to $1,400. Using card A, what does topping up to $1,500 that day do?

   Use the picture in question 4.

   • It covers a $100 shortfall but the fee is charged anyway
   • It avoids the whole $12 fee for the month, since one low day triggers the full fee
   • It saves a share of the fee, because just one day was low
   • It changes nothing, because the rule uses the average balance over the month, not each day
10. 6.

    Milo uses card B. Which statement about the fee change from $10 to $12 is best supported?

    Use the picture in question 4.

    • Revenue fell, because 300 accounts left
    • Demand was inelastic, about 0.3, so fee revenue rose from $50,000 to $56,400
    • Demand was inelastic, so a $14 fee would raise revenue even more
    • Demand was elastic, about 2.9, because price rose by a larger percent than accounts fell
11. 7.

    A manager claims card B proves a $14 fee will raise revenue again. Noah tests the claim. What is the best verdict?

    Use the picture in question 4.

    • Shown: revenue rose when the fee went from $10 to $12, so it must keep rising at any higher fee
    • Weakly supported: one observed change from $10 to $12 does not show how accounts respond at $14
    • Refuted: 300 accounts left, so a $14 fee would lose more accounts and revenue
    • Unsupported: card B does not say what the credit union pays to run the $12 accounts

12. Use this

    Cards A and B on a cap on card late fees. Card A. Compare chart "A late-fee cap, per 1,000 card accounts" (made up for practice), columns Line | Before the cap | After the cap: Late fee charged | $30 | $8; Accounts paying one late fee a year | 250 | 250; Late-fee revenue | $7,500 | $2,000. Note: invented lender, made up for practice. The other 750 accounts always pay on time. Card B, "What the lender does" (made up). To bring its revenue back to $7,500 per 1,000 accounts, the lender adds the same yearly fee to all 1,000 accounts. It then charges $5.50 a year to each account.

14. 8.

    Pia reads cards A and B. After the lender's response, who gains and who loses?

    • The 250 late payers gain $16.50 each; the 750 on-time accounts lose $5.50 each
    • On-time accounts are unaffected, since they do not pay a late fee
    • The lender loses $5,500, which the cap took from its revenue
    • Both groups gain, since the late fee fell from $30 to $8 and the lender's revenue did not change
15. 9.

    Tala asks what happens to the lender's plan if some on-time accounts close. Which statement is best supported?

    Use the picture in question 8.

    • Only closures by the 250 late payers matter, since the cap helps them
    • Nothing changes, since the $2,000 of late fees comes from other accounts, not the on-time ones
    • Each closed account removes its $5.50, so the plan reaches $7,500 only if no account closes
    • The plan fails only if all 750 on-time accounts close
16. 10.

    A columnist says cards A and B show the cap hurt careful payers and helped no one. Zee tests it. What is the verdict?

    Use the picture in question 8.

    • Right: any lender response means careful payers lose and no one else gains
    • Partly right: on-time accounts paid $5.50 more, but late payers saved $16.50 each
    • Wrong: the cap lowered the late fee, so each customer is better off after the lender's response
    • Wrong: the lender's revenue stayed at $7,500, so no customer was affected