A group of lawmakers has sent a letter to Bank of America officials, saying they are seeking information about the bank using consumer data to open unauthorized bank accounts.
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Sherrod Brown
Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee Chairman Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) joined Banking and Housing Committee members Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) , Chris Van Hollen (D-MD). ) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ) in sending a letter to Bank of America CEO Andrew Cecere.
Lawmakers said the correspondence comes from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) fining the bank $37.5 million for illegally accessing consumers’ credit reports to open checking and credit accounts fakes, rack up commissions and increase profits.
“The CFPB’s consent order tells a troubling story,” the lawmakers wrote. “According to the Bureau, United States Bank, the nation’s fifth largest commercial bank, sought to increase sales of its products and services by rewarding employees who met sales goals and generated more revenue for the bank through an incentive and compensation program Under this pressure, employees engaged in illegal activities using customers’ personally identifiable information to open deposit accounts, apply for and issue credit cards, and open lines of credit from from 2010 to 2020.
Lawmakers keep the product fees and increased profits for the US bank, to the detriment of their own customers.
Lawmakers have asked the Bank of the United States for a congressional staff report on the matter. They are also seeking answers to queries including the number of unauthorized accounts opened from January 1, 2010 to the present; the number of credit cards and other lines of credit issued without the knowledge or consent of US Bank customers; and the number of unauthorized accounts opened by US Bank employees based on personally identifiable information of existing customers.
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