WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) - The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) filed a lawsuit against Citizens Bank for allegedly failing to credit customers the full amounts they were owed in their accounts, said CFPB Director Richard Cordray Wednesday.
When receipts didn't match actual money transferred by account holders, the bank would allegedly keep the difference, Cordray said. The bank services a dozen states, and the discrepancies allegedly shorted customers millions of dollars, he said. CFPB was joined in the lawsuit by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
The lawsuit is seeking about $11 million in restitution for customers of the bank, and another $7.5 million in penalties for the violations, Cordray said.
“Citizens Bank regularly denied customers the full credits of their deposits when there were discrepancies between deposit slips and the actual money transferred into the bank,” Cordray said. “The bank chose to ignore these discrepancies and harmed many consumers by pocketing the difference.”
The lawsuit claims an investigation by the CFPB found that the bank made these discrepancies between Jan. 1, 2008, to Nov. 30, 2013. The lawsuit alleges the actions violated the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which prohibits “unfair and deceptive practices.”