Federal regulators have a long and distressing history of talking about predatory banking practices while doing little to end them. The Federal Reserve Board’s new rules aimed at protecting unsuspecting holders of debit cards from multiple overdraft fees are, at best, half-measures.

The banks euphemistically refer to this fleecing, which can amount to hundreds of dollars a day, as “overdraft protection.” They typically enroll accountholders in these programs without their knowledge and make it hard to escape. And, generally, banks do not notify debit card customers that they are overdrawn, which means that people can rack up a succession of expensive overdraft charges during the course of a shopping day.

This has become big business. According to a recent study by the Center for Responsible Lending, American families spend nearly as much on overdraft fees as on major household appliances. Banks and credit unions socked customer accounts for nearly $24 billion last year, roughly a third more than two years earlier.

The new Federal Reserve rules have value. They create an opt-in provision, which means people cannot be enrolled in the overdraft programs without their permission and only after they have been told what it would cost. For those who do not choose to enroll, banks would presumably revert to the once-common practice of declining transactions when the charge would create a negative balance. The rules also give customers the right to opt out at any point and forbids the banks from discriminating against those who do not join the program.