(AP) — Bank of America has to double some fees, withhold compensation bonuses and pay customers more than $100 million for opening accounts without their consent. it won’t work.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced on Tuesday that Bank of America will pay the organization $90 million in fines and OCC $60 million in fines.
The Monetary Authority has ruled that double bottoms in bank charges are illegal.
Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Bank of America serves 68 million people and small business customers. The bank had consolidated assets of $2.4 trillion and domestic deposits of $1.9 trillion as of March 31, making it the second largest bank in the United States.
According to the CFPB, Bank of America had a policy of charging customers $35 after refusing transactions for not having enough funds in their accounts. The agency determined that the bank had hit a double bottom by allowing it to repeatedly charge fees for the same transaction.
The bank said it voluntarily lowered overdraft fees in the first half of last year and eliminated all insufficient funds fees.
Bank of America also offered cash rewards and bonus points upon card registration, but the CFPB said it had illegally withheld the bank’s promised credit card account bonuses.
According to the CFPB, since at least 2012, Bank of America employees have illegally applied for and registered credit card accounts without the knowledge and permission of consumers.
Wells Fargo has paid billions in fines after the Bank of San Francisco was found guilty. opened millions of fraudulent bank accounts To meet unrealistic sales targets.
“Bank of America unreasonably withheld credit card benefits, doubled fees, and opened accounts without consent,” CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said in a prepared statement. “These actions are illegal and undermine customer confidence.”
In 2014, the CFPB ordered Bank of America to pay $727 million for illegal credit card activity. Last year, he was ordered to pay a $10 million civil fine for illegal seizures. Also in 2022, the CFPB and OCC will fine Bank of America $225 million and hand out hundreds of millions of dollars to consumers for failing to pay state unemployment benefits amid the COVID-19 pandemic. demanded a dollar reparation.