Banks extend fee waivers for storm-hit customers

Some of the nation's biggest banks have extended temporary waivers on a variety of fees and late charges for residents of states hit hard by Superstorm Sandy.

It's an effort to ease pressure on customers to make bill payments when nearly 1.8 million homes and businesses remain without power across a swath of states.

JPMorgan Chase Inc., Citigroup Inc., Wells Fargo Inc., PNC Financial Services Inc., Bank of America Inc. and HSBC are among the institutions that have offered such help for their customers. Most have extended their deadlines until Nov. 7.

The banks themselves still face power outages, forcing the shutdown of dozens of branches and ATMs in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and the District of Columbia.