InfoBytes Blog
Filter
Subscribe to our InfoBytes Blog weekly newsletter and other publications for news affecting the financial services industry.
CFPB Files Suit Against Bank Regarding its OverDraft Services
On January 19, the CFPB initiated an enforcement action against a U.S. bank alleging it mislead consumers regarding its overdraft services. In a complaint filed with the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota, the Bureau claims the bank created an application process that obscured fees and made an optional opt-in overdraft service appear to be mandatory for both new and existing consumers. Furthermore, the complaint alleges that the bank relied on overdraft fee revenue to a greater degree than most other banks its size and recognized that the opt-in rule could negatively impact its business by virtue of reducing overdraft revenue. The CFPB seeks “redress for consumers, injunctive relief, and penalties.”
CFPB Issues Consent Order to National Bank Over Account Operations
On September 8, the CFPB issued a consent order to a national bank to resolve allegations that its employees opened deposit and credit card accounts for consumers without obtaining consent to do so. According to the CFPB’s consent order, the respondent implemented an incentive compensation program under which employees “engaged in Improper Sales Practices to satisfy goals and earn financial rewards.” The CFPB alleges that the bank’s employees’ Improper Sales Practices were unfair and abusive. Specifically, the consent order alleges that the employees, possibly without consumers’ knowledge or without their consent, (i) opened more than 1.5 million deposit accounts and subsequently transferred money from consumers’ existing accounts to fund the newly opened accounts; (ii) submitted approximately 565,000 credit card account applications on behalf of consumers, with consumers consequently incurring late, annual, and over-draft fees on such accounts; (iii) issued debit cards and created personal identification numbers to activate the cards; and (iv) enrolled consumers in online-banking services. Pursuant to the consent order, the bank, among other things, must pay a civil penalty of $100 million and an expected $2.5 million in consumer redress.
CFPB Orders National Bank to Pay $10 Million Over Overdraft Practices
On July 14, the CFPB ordered a Delaware-based national bank to pay a $10 million civil penalty to settle allegations that its overdraft fee practices were deceptive and violated Regulation E of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act because the bank allegedly charged consumers overdraft fees in connection with ATM and one-time debit card transactions without obtaining their affirmative consent. The CFPB alleges that the bank incentivized sales representatives of a third-party telemarketing vendor to market its overdraft service through “Opt-in Call Campaigns.” According to the consent order, vendor representatives deviated from sales scripts approved by the bank and provided consumers with incomplete, inaccurate, or misleading information to persuade them to enroll in the overdraft service. The CFPB alleges that the bank failed to properly monitor the vendor and detect “widespread problems” throughout the Opt-in Call Campaigns, including, but not limited to: (i) enrolling consumers in the bank’s overdraft program without their consent; (ii) falsely advertising the overdraft program as free, when in fact consumers were charged $35 per overdraft; (iii) misleading consumers into believing they would be charged overdraft fees regardless of whether or not they signed up for the program, or telling consumers they would face additional charges if they opted out of the program; and (iv) falsely claiming that the purpose of the call was “not a sales call” but rather to let consumers know that the bank had changed its name. In addition to imposing a $10 million civil penalty, the consent order requires the bank to, among other things, (i) validate that all consumers who were enrolled in the program through its vendor wish to remain in the program; (ii) stop using a vendor to conduct the marketing of its overdraft service; and (iii) develop and implement a new or revised written policy to govern vendor management for Service Providers engaged in telemarketing of consumer financial products or services.
OCC Revises Guidance Regarding Consumer Protection Requirements to Overdraft Lines and Protection Services
As previously reported in our March 11 Special Alert Update, on March 6, 2015, the OCC issued its revised “Deposit-Related Credit” booklet (“DRC booklet”) of the Comptroller’s Handbook, which replaced the “Deposit-Related Consumer Credit” booklet issued on February 11, 2015 (previously covered in this Special Alert). While the new booklet covers the same products – check credit (overdraft lines of credit, cash reserves, and special drafts), overdraft protection services, and deposit advances – the OCC made significant amendments to scale back the provisions of the prior version. Specifically, the new DRC booklet no longer contains supervisory principles that could be read to require that banks provide substantive consumer protections that are not currently required by the applicable consumer protection regulations. For example, the DRC booklet no longer requires that banks:
- only enroll customers into an overdraft protection service if they have affirmatively requested that product;
- ensure the ability to repay for all applicants enrolled in an overdraft protection service; and
- ensure that any fees charged in connection with an overdraft protection service are reasonably related to the program’s costs and associated risks.
In making these changes, the OCC requires supervisors to assess DRC products more in line with existing consumer protection laws. The OCC states as much in OCC Bulletin 2015-17, which announced the DRC booklet. There, the OCC acknowledges that the DRC booklet “is intended as a summary restatement of existing laws, regulations, and policies [and] ... [n]othing in this booklet should be interpreted as changing existing OCC policy.”
International Bank to Pay $30 Million to Resolve Overdraft Fee Allegations
On March 2, an international bank agreed to pay $30 million to settle allegations that it changed the order in which customers’ debit transactions cleared in order to generate additional overdraft fees. According to the plaintiffs, the bank engaged in a practice known as “high-to-low” posting, whereby a bank orders transactions from the largest to the smallest dollar amount before posting them to the customer’s account. The bank also charged a $35 fee for each overdraft, regardless of the amount of the transaction. The plaintiffs allege that, when combined, these practices increased the number of overdraft fees paid by some customers because processing the largest charges first depleted their funds more quickly and increased the total number of transactions that failed to clear. The bank appropriately defended its practices, contending, among other things, that the claims were preempted by the National Bank Act and barred by the Uniform Commercial Code, and that the deposit agreement provided for discretion to order transactions. The settlement is scheduled to face a fairness hearing and final approval by the court.
Eleventh Circuit Ruling Gives Large Bank Another Chance at Arbitration
On an appeal of five putative class actions alleging the unlawful charging of overdraft fees on consumer checking accounts, On February 10, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit vacated a lower court order holding that the defendant’s waiver of its right to compel arbitration with the named plaintiffs precludes the Bank from compelling arbitration with any unnamed members of the putative classes. In re Checking Account Overdraft Litigation, No. 13-12082 (11th Cir. Feb. 10, 2015). The panel held that the lower court lacked jurisdiction to resolve the question. Additionally, it held that the named plaintiffs lacked standing, under Article III of the U.S. Constitution, to advance claims on behalf of those unnamed putative class members, who—in the absence of class certification—have “no justiciable controversy” with the Bank.
OCC "Deposit-Related Consumer Credit" Booklet of Comptroller's Handbook to be Amended
On February 20, the OCC announced that it would be removing the “Deposited-Related Consumer Credit” booklet, originally issued on February 11, from its website. The OCC’s February 11 booklet seemingly required banks to change overdraft protection services, however the agency has since stated that the booklet was not intended to establish new policy. According to the OCC’s website, the agency will “[revise] the booklet to clarify and restate the existing law, rules, and policy.” When the OCC releases its amended version of the booklet, we will update the February 16 Special Alert to reflect the agency's modifications.
Large National Bank Fights Against Latest Suit Alleging Improper Overdraft Fees
On January 6, a large national bank filed a motion to dismiss a suit alleging it charged improper overdraft fees. Filed last year in the Central District of California, the suit claims the bank violated federal and state laws – the EFTA and California’s unfair competition law – by posting customers’ larger debit transactions first, causing customer accounts to deplete faster resulting in more overdraft fees. In its motion, the bank claims it voluntarily stopped charging overdraft fees for one-time debit card transactions and most ATM withdrawals prior to the effective date of the amended regulations. The bank also argues that state law claims regarding good faith practices are preempted by the federal National Banking Act (NBA). The matter is scheduled to be heard on March 3. Stanionis et al v. Bank of America, No. 14-cv-2222
CFPB Concerned Overdraft Opt-In Requirement Not Protecting Consumers
On July 31, the CFPB released its latest assessment of overdraft data it has collected from large banks. The report provides the following summary findings:
- Overdraft and non-sufficient funds (NSF) fees constitute the majority of the total checking account fees that consumers incur. For opted-in consumers, overdraft and NSF fees account for about 75% of their total checking account fees and average over $250 per year.
- Most overdraft fees are paid by a small fraction of bank customers—8% of customers incur nearly 75% of all overdraft fees.
- Opted-in accounts are three times as likely to have more than 10 overdrafts per year as accounts that are not opted in. And opted-in accounts have seven times as many overdrafts that result in fees as accounts that are not opted in.
- Transactions that lead to overdrafts tend to be small—for debit card transactions, the median amount that leads to an overdraft fee is $24 and the median amount of a transaction that leads to an overdraft fee for all types of debits is $50.
- Most consumers who overdraft bring their accounts positive quickly.
- Younger customers tend to overdraft more than older customers.
As the CFPB explains, since mid-2010, Regulation E generally requires financial institutions to obtain affirmative consent from account holders to be charged fees for overdraft coverage on ATM and non-recurring point of sale (POS) debit card transactions. The CFPB states that as a result, institutions are less likely to authorize overdrafts on these types of transactions for account holders who have not opted in. However, the CFPB believes the study confirms that opting in for overdraft coverage for debit card and ATM transactions is an expensive way to manage a checking account, and the agency’s press release and Director Cordray’s remarks about the report indicate the CFPB is concerned about the ability of the opt-in requirement to protect consumers. Director Cordray raised specific concerns about the use of debit cards for purchases, stating that “consumers are now using their debit cards more than ever” and that “overdraft fees should not be ‘gotchas’ when people use their debit cards.”
The CFPB acknowledged that it has not sufficiently assessed the causal nature of the relationship between opt-in status and overdrafting. And Director Cordray stressed that “nothing in this report implies that banks and credit unions should be precluded from offering overdraft coverage.” But he called for continued review of “whether current overdraft practices are causing the kind of consumer harm that the federal consumer protection laws are designed to prevent.”
The report is part of the CFPB’s ongoing study of the overdraft market in advance of a potential rulemaking, and it is the second such report released to date. The CFPB recently substantially extended the timeline for its rulemaking on overdraft products, indicating in May that “prerule activities” could continue through February 2015; the CFPB previously anticipated continuing prerule activities through July 2014. While “prerule activities” is not a defined term, it could involve additional reports, or conducting a small business review panel for some or all of those topics. Such panels focus on the impact of anticipated regulations on small entities, but the CFPB typically makes the small business panel materials public, which provides an advance look at the potential direction for a proposed rule.
Updated CFPB Rulemaking Agenda Adds Auto Finance Larger Participant Rule, Updates Timelines For Other Rules
The CFPB recently released its latest rulemaking agenda, which lists for the first time a larger participant rule that would define the size of nonbank auto finance companies subject to the CFPB's supervisory authority. The CFPB anticipates proposing a rule no sooner than August 2014. Stakeholders will have an opportunity to comment, and a final rule likely would not be issued until sometime in 2015. The CFPB anticipates finalizing its rule for larger participants in the international money transfer market in September 2014. In addition, the agenda pushes back the timeline for the anticipated prepaid card proposed rule from May 2014 to June 2014. The CFPB has been testing potential prepaid card disclosures.
The agenda does not provide timelines for proposed rules related to payday lending, debt collection, or overdraft products, but the CFPB states that additional prerule activities for each of those topics will continue through September 2014, December 2014, and February 2015, respectively. The CFPB substantially extended the timeline for overdraft products; it previously anticipated continuing prerule activities through July 2014. While “prerule activities” is not a defined term, it could include conducting a small business review panel for some or all of those topics. Such panels focus on the impact of anticipated regulations on small entities, but the CFPB typically makes the small business panel materials public, which provides an advance look at the potential direction for a proposed rule.
The agenda does not include a rulemaking implementing the small business fair lending data reporting requirements in the Dodd-Frank Act, though the CFPB previously has indicated it could consider those issues in connection with its HMDA rulemaking. Prerule activities related to the HMDA rule are ongoing.