Bank Of America Fined $250M For Hidden Fees And Other Fraudulent Activity

One of the biggest banks in the US has agreed to pay a $250 million fine for setting a series of unlawful rules against its clients.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau reports Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, America’s Bank set unseeable fees, withheld credit card advantages for some years, and created artificial accounts.

The Bank is fined for “systematically double-dipping on fees imposed on customers with insufficient funds in their account, withholding reward bonuses explicitly promised to credit card customers, and misappropriating sensitive personal information to open accounts without customer knowledge or authorization.”

The Bank is paying $100 million instantly to account holders impacted by the Bank’s illegal acts and additionally spending $90 million in fines to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and $60M to the OCC.

CFPB Director Rohit Chopra expresses that the agency aims to eliminate general and systemic illegal rules against customers from the banking industry.

The news release states, “Bank of America wrongfully withheld credit card rewards, double-dipped on fees, and opened accounts without consent. These practices are illegal and undermine customer trust. The CFPB will be putting an end to these practices across the banking system.”

Further stated, this is the first time a fine was charged to Bank of America for committing unfair activity in its consumer interaction.

Bank Of America got the order from CFPB to pay $727 million for unfair credit card practices on victims 2014. The same agency instructed the Bank to pay a $10 million polite fine over unlawful garnishments in 2015.

CFPB and OCC fined Bank of America $225 million for “botched” disbursement of state unemployment profits in the last two years in 2022.

The fines charged against Bank of America were muted compared to the firm’s profit.

According to Statista, Gross profit for the Bank was $94.95 billion in 2022, up 6.55% from 2021.