Bank of America must pay more than $100 million to customers for doubling up on some fees, withholding reward bonuses and opening accounts without customer consent.<\/p>\n
Bank of America will pay $90 million in penalties to its organization and $60 million in penalties to the OCC, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Tuesday. <\/p>\n
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency found the bank\u2019s double-dipping on fees was illegal. <\/p>\n
Bank of America, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, serves 68 million people and small business clients. The bank had $2.4 trillion in consolidated assets and $1.9 trillion in domestic deposits as of March 31, making it the second-largest bank in the U.S.<\/p>\n
Bank of America had a policy of charging customers $35 after the bank declined a transaction because the customer did not have enough funds in their account, the CFPB said. The agency determined that the bank double-dipped by allowing fees to be repeatedly charged for the same transaction.<\/p>\n
The bank said that it voluntarily reduced overdraft fees and eliminated all non-sufficient fund fees in the first half of last year. <\/p>\n
Bank of America also offered people cash rewards and bonus points when signing up for a card, but the CFPB said the bank illegally withheld promised credit card account bonuses.<\/p>\n
Since at least 2012, Bank of America employees illegally applied for and enrolled consumers in credit card accounts without their knowledge or authorization, the CFPB said. <\/p>\n
Wells Fargo has paid billions in fines after it was determined that the San Francisco bank opened millions of unauthorized bank accounts in order to meet unrealistic sales goals.<\/p>\n
\u201cBank of America wrongfully withheld credit card rewards, double-dipped on fees, and opened accounts without consent,\u201d said CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said in a prepared statement. \u201cThese practices are illegal and undermine customer trust.\u201d <\/p>\n
In 2014 the CFPB ordered Bank of America to pay $727 million for illegal credit card practices. Last year it was ordered to pay a $10 million civil penalty over unlawful garnishments. Also in 2022, the CFPB and OCC fined Bank of America $225 million and required it to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in redress to consumers for botched disbursement of state unemployment benefits at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n