Details
Written by: RJ
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) sued Capital One, N.A., and its parent holding company, Capital One Financial Corp., for cheating millions of consumers out of more than $2 billion in interest. The CFPB alleges that Capital One promised consumers that its flagship “360 Savings” account provided one of the nation’s “best” and “highest” interest rates, but the bank froze the interest rate at a low level while rates rose nationwide. Around the same time, Capital One created a virtually identical product, “360 Performance Savings,” that differed from 360 Savings only in that it paid out substantially more in interest—at one point more than 14 times the 360 Savings rate. Capital One did not specifically notify 360 Savings accountholders about the new product, and instead worked to keep them in the dark about these better-paying accounts. The CFPB alleges that Capital One obscured the new product from its 360 Savings accountholders and cost millions of consumers more than $2 billion in lost interest payments. The CFPB’s lawsuit seeks to stop the companies’ unlawful conduct, provide redress for harmed consumers, and impose civil money penalties, which would be paid into the CFPB’s victims relief fund.
- Misled consumers about “high interest” accounts: Capital One illegally deceived consumers and Capital One, N.A. violated the Truth in Savings Act by representing that 360 Savings provided a variable interest rate that was “one of the nation’s” “top,” “best,” and “highest,” and would earn much more interest than the average savings account.
- Kept consumers in the dark to maintain a two-tier system: Capital One misrepresented to existing customers that its 360 Savings account was and would be its only 360 high-interest savings product with the features, terms, and conditions of 360 Savings and obscured from those customers its newer, much-higher-interest 360 Performance Savings accounts, which otherwise had all the same terms, conditions, and features of 360 Savings. Capital One used 360 Performance Savings to attract new depositors without paying existing depositors the interest they were promised. Capital One avoided paying more than $2 billion in additional interest to millions of customers because of these actions.
Thoughts
Tough call. Capital One had to have known what and why they were doing this. On the other side, it is up to customers to read up on the products they choose to use. That said, I lean towards the CFPB on this one. Institutions try to get cute far too often.
Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the card links and products that appear on this website are from companies which RJ Financial/Profitable Content may receive compensation when you click on links to those products.Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. The content on this page is accurate as of the posting date; however, some of our partner offers may have expired. See our Advertising Policy here.
Editorial Note:
Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, vendors or companies, and have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.