Capital One Sued For “Cheating” Customers

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has sued Capital One for allegedly misleading customers.

In a statement, the CFPB alleged Capital One cheated customers out of more than $2 billion in interest.

The CFPB stated Capital One deceived holders of its “360 Savings” account by “conflating it with its newer and higher-yield savings account option, the “360 Performance Savings” account.”

The CFPB said, “Banks should not be baiting people with promises they can’t live up to.”

In a response, Capital One stated, “We are deeply disappointed to see the CFPB continue its recent pattern of filing eleventh-hour lawsuits ahead of a change in administration.”

Capital One cheated working families out of $2 BILLION in interest by misleading them about their savings accounts. This is corporate greed at its worst. We must hold these big banks accountable to ensure New Yorkers get a fair deal. https://t.co/4LjIG8eLDu

— Justin Brannan (@JustinBrannan) January 14, 2025

CNBC:

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced Tuesday that it was suing Capital One for misleading consumers about their savings account interest rates and “cheating” them out of more than $2 billion in interest.

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The agency said in a statement Capital One deceived holders of its “360 Savings” account by conflating it with its newer and higher-yield savings account option, the “360 Performance Savings” account. The bank allegedly failed to notify 360 Savings account holders of the newer option and marketed the two products similarly to lead customers to believe they were the same.

However, the interest rates of the two options were substantially different, according to the CFPB. Capital One increased the 360 Performance Savings interest rate from 0.4% in April 2022 to 4.35% in January 2024, while it lowered and then froze the 360 Savings rate at 0.3% between late 2019 and mid-2024, the agency said.

Despite its relatively low interest rate, the CFPB alleged, the 360 Savings account was advertised as a high-interest savings account. The bureau said Capital One aimed to keep 360 Savings users in the dark about the higher-yield option by replacing all references to the account with the similarly named 360 Performance Savings option on its website, excluding account holders from marketing campaigns advertising the higher-yield account and forbidding employees from notifying account holders about the 360 Performance Savings option.

“The CFPB is suing Capital One for cheating families out of billions of dollars on their savings accounts,” said CFPB Director Rohit Chopra in a news release. “Banks should not be baiting people with promises they can’t live up to.”

In a statement, Capital One denied the allegations and said it transparently marketed its 360 Performance Savings account.

“We are deeply disappointed to see the CFPB continue its recent pattern of filing eleventh hour lawsuits ahead of a change in administration. We strongly disagree with their claims and will vigorously defend ourselves in court,” the company said in a statement.

The bank added the 360 Performance Savings product was “marketed widely, including on national television, with the simplest and most transparent terms in the industry.”

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is suing Capital One for ‘cheating’ customers out of $2 billion in interest payments:#capitalone #bankscam pic.twitter.com/y3p7P74cdR

— TheStreet (@TheStreet) January 14, 2025

Capital One is being sued by the US government’s consumer watchdog agency for “cheating millions of consumers” and not paying more than $2 billion in interest to holders of its high-interest savings accounts.

https://t.co/RhkZ5zCjwo

— WSVN 7 News (@wsvn) January 14, 2025

Per WSVN:

Capital One is being sued by the US government’s consumer watchdog agency for “cheating millions of consumers” and not paying more than $2 billion in interest to holders of its high-interest savings accounts.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) accuses Capital One of freezing the interest rates of its flagship “360 Savings” accounts at low levels despite rates rising nationwide and said the bank launched a new account that offered better interest rates without telling “360 Savings” customers. As a result, that decision cost consumers more than $2 billion in lost interest payments.

“The CFPB is suing Capital One for cheating families out of billions of dollars on their savings accounts,” said CFPB Director Rohit Chopra in a release. “Banks should not be baiting people with promises they can’t live up to.”

Capital One said in a statement that it’s “deeply disappointed to see the CFPB continue its recent pattern of filing eleventh hour lawsuits ahead of a change in administration.”

“We strongly disagree with their claims and will vigorously defend ourselves in court,” a Capital One spokesperson said, adding that the new account was “marketed widely, including on national television, with the simplest and most transparent terms in the industry.”