Bank of America, the second-largest bank in the U.S., was accused of fraudulent practices over the past several years that harmed hundreds of thousands of customers, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) said Tuesday. In a statement, the CFPB said the bank charged a $35 fee multiple times for the same transaction, failed to properly provide rewards to credit card users, and opened credit card accounts without customers’ consent.
Bank of America, which is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, was ordered to pay a total of $150 million in penalties to the CFPB and another regulator, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. In addition, the bank must pay about $80.4 million to customers who were improperly charged bogus fees, after previously paying $23 million to customers who were wrongly denied card rewards.
CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said in a statement: “These practices are illegal and undermine customer trust. The CFPB will put an end to these practices across the banking system.”
Bank of America spokesperson Bill Halldin said in response that in the first half of 2022, the bank “voluntarily reduced overdraft fees and eliminated all non-sufficient funds fees,” causing revenue from those fees to decline by 90%.
