On 3/9/2020, the CFPB announced that they filed a lawsuit against Fifth Third Bank for practices that appear to be similar to those Wells Fargo had allowed to occur within their organization. For example, the Bureau alleges that for several years Fifth Third, without consumers’ knowledge or consent: opened deposit and credit-card accounts in consumers’ names; transferred funds from consumers’ existing accounts to new, improperly opened accounts; enrolled consumers in unauthorized online-banking services; and activated unauthorized lines of credit on consumers’ accounts. As was the case with Wells Fargo, the Bureau also alleges that Fifth Third violated the Consumer Financial Protection Act’s prohibition against unfair and abusive acts or practices as well as the Truth in Lending Act and the Truth in Savings Act and their implementing regulations.
Specifically, the CFPB alleges that for years and continuing through at least 2016, Fifth Third used a “cross-sell” strategy to increase the number of products and services it provided to existing customers; used an incentive-compensation program to reward selling new products; and conditioned employee-performance ratings and, in some instances, continued employment on meeting ambitious sales goals. The Bureau further alleges that, despite knowing since at least 2008 that employees were opening unauthorized consumer-financial accounts, Fifth Third took insufficient steps to detect and stop the conduct and to identify and remediate harmed consumers.
In their lawsuit, the Bureau is seeking an injunction to stop Fifth Third’s unlawful conduct, redress for affected consumers, and the imposition of a civil money penalty.
The CFPB complaint can be found here.