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Wells Fargo Under Fire for Excessive Fees Again

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Washington, DC It's bad enough when consumers have to pay excessive bank fees for transactions that have been reordered, or when they haven't authorized overdraft on their account. But now allegations have been raised that Wells Fargo not only created millions of unauthorized accounts, it also charged customers for those secret accounts. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has fined Wells Fargo $100 million for the practice, but consumers might understandably be wondering what other ridiculous fees banks will charge to increase their profits.

According to a news release from the CFPB, the agency handed out the largest fine it has ever imposed to Wells Fargo for its actions. Employees of the company allegedly opened unauthorized debit and credit card accounts without the knowledge or consent of consumers and then transferred funds from those accounts also with no customer knowledge or consent. In the process of doing so, fees and other charges were racked up, boosting Wells Fargo's profits and improving sales figures.

In all, more than two million unauthorized accounts may have been opened. Included in the fees consumers may have been charged without authorization were annual fees, finance charges, and interest charges associated with around 565,000 unauthorized credit accounts; and overdraft or insufficient funds fees charged to authorized accounts when employees transferred money from authorized accounts to unauthorized accounts. The CFPB imposed its penalties against Wells Fargo for failing to monitor the implementation of its incentive programs to ensure employees did not break the rules when pursuing sales quotas.

"Because of the severity of these violations, Wells Fargo is paying the largest penalty the CFPB has ever imposed.


Wells Fargo will reportedly pay a $100 million fine to the CFPB, as well as paying at least $2.5 million to consumers who were affected by the unauthorized maintenance fees, insufficient funds fees, and overdraft charges. Additionally, the bank will pay $35 million to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and $50 million to the City and County of Los Angeles.

"Wells Fargo employees secretly opened unauthorized accounts to hit sales targets and receive bonuses," said CFPB Director Richard Cordray in a statement. "Because of the severity of these violations, Wells Fargo is paying the largest penalty the CFPB has ever imposed."

The bank reportedly confirmed to CNN Money (9/9/16) that 5,300 employees had been fired for participating in unauthorized account creation - which involved creating fake PIN numbers and email addresses to open the accounts. Although the CFPB doesn't comment on why it conducts investigations or what brought Wells Fargo to its attention, Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer filed a lawsuit against Wells Fargo in 2015 after hearing reports of unauthorized accounts through a December 2013 report in the Los Angeles Times.

That report quoted employees as saying they would fired or given other consequences for not meeting sales goals.

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READER COMMENTS

Posted by

on
I have not changed my bank practices in years and and from time to time Wells Fargo gets crazy with overdraft fees on my account. They change the timing of my deposits and my withdrawals to make the withdrawals come out of my bank account before I make the deposits. I check my bank account often and I make sure there's a positive balance in my account before I make a purchase. I'm very careful with what I do and they are still screwing me over. I live paycheck to paycheck and I can't afford this!!!

Posted by

on
Its March 27th, same crap, also they will post a transaction, then the transaction will disappear for a few days, free up available funds from it and then post three days later. They are completely deceptive in their practices, right now I put a block on my account to prevent any further transactions. You try to talk to them and they try to confuse you and make you feel crazy.

Posted by

on
I was charged overdraft fees. And financed a vehicle through wells fargo. Paid for insurance that wells say i didnt gave for vehicle protection.

Posted by

on
I was with Wells Fargo until about 6 months ago. I was tired of the overdraft fees caused by them re-ordering my account. I argued with them about this, and they treated me like I didn't know what I was talking about. I had an issue with items that had hard posted to the account/ cleared the account being taken out of cleared status and returned to pending status in order to rack up overdraft fees. The branch manager and tellers kept telling me that it could not happen- that they do not do that. It could be items that had been posted for several days that they then moved back to pending status.
When you go to the branch, the branch tells you to contact the 800 number that they have more authority to correct issues. The 800 number reps tell you that the branch has the authority to do more than they do- they just don't want the responsibility for the issue.
After arguing with them for months and getting no where I switched banks. At least now I know the games the banks like to play with our money.

Posted by

on
Am I the only one that feels as if Wells Fargo is ripiping me off? Everytime I write a check they take days to clear it. If it's a Thursday and I get paid Friday I think that I have money in my account so I buy things that I need. I look at my account Friday and they claim they cleared the check Thursday so everything that I purchased Thursday has an overdraft fee. After 8 years I'm going to Bank of America.

Posted by

on
We were treated terrible when trying to sell our home. We sold our home and paid 1yr ahead insurance. When sold home we were expecting a refund for ins. In meantime there was some mistake on our account and wells Fargo took money from our refund to pay without our authorization. More to case but were treated terrible on phone and never apology or admittance of any wrongdoing. Will never use wells fargo again

Posted by

on
I am so glad. I was tired of getting overdraft fees. I eventually closed my account. I hope they fry! Let me find a lawyer to get in this class action lawsuit.. They are total rip offs!

Posted by

on
Opening accounts with my name

Posted by

on
how do i find out if my accounts were messed with?

Posted by

on
When did this actually start? I had an account about 10-12 years ago. This is crazy and so sad.

Posted by

on
hahahahahhahhahahahaahahahhahaha rip wells fargo

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