Life insurance sold through banks was analyzed.

Allowing banks to sell life insurance could save consumers billions of dollars, but the regulations needed to protect against abuse could wipe out the cost advantage, the Consumer Federation of America said. The federation said a study shows that in those states where banks are allowed to sell insurance, the banks tend to be more responsive to their customers than regular agents and to offer policies that cost less. But it said potential problems must be faced before banks generally should be permitted to enter the insurance business and that dealing with those problems through regulation would be expensive.