Bank of America fined $150 million for consumer abuses including fake accounts, bogus fees

Bank of America, the 2nd largest U.S. slope by assets, engaged successful deceptive practices that wounded hundreds of thousands of its customers successful caller years, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Tuesday.

The slope charged aggregate $35 overdraft fees for the aforesaid transaction, failed to decently contented rewards to recognition paper users, and signed up customers for paper accounts without their consent, the CFPB said successful a statement.

Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America was ordered to wage a full of $150 cardinal successful penalties to the CFPB and different regulator, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. It besides has to wage astir $80.4 cardinal to customers who were unfairly charged bogus fees, connected apical of the $23 cardinal it already paid to customers who were improperly denied paper awards.

"These practices are amerciable and undermine lawsuit trust," CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said successful the release. "The CFPB volition beryllium putting an extremity to these practices crossed the banking system."

Bank of America spokesperson Bill Halldin said successful a effect the lender "voluntarily reduced overdraft fees and eliminated each non-sufficient money fees successful the archetypal fractional of 2022," resulting successful a 90% driblet successful gross from those fees.

The announcement Tuesday is the latest motion that immoderate of the practices exposed by the Wells Fargo fake accounts ungraded successful 2016 weren't confined to that bank.

Regulators person punished Wells Fargo for a income civilization that led to the instauration of 3.5 cardinal fake accounts. But different lenders person had akin lapses, including U.S. Bank, which paid a $37.5 cardinal good past twelvemonth for putting customers into unauthorized accounts.