A group of lawmakers have forwarded correspondence to U.S. Bank officials, noting they are seeking information about the bank using consumer data to open unauthorized bank accounts.
Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Chairman Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) joined Banking and Housing Committee members Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ) in sending a letter to U.S. Bank CEO Andrew Cecere.
The lawmakers indicated the correspondence stems from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) fining the bank $37.5 million for illegally accessing consumers’ credit reports to open fake checking and credit accounts, accrue fees and increase profits.
“The CFPB’s consent order tells a problematic story,” the legislators wrote. “According to the Bureau, U.S. Bank, the nation’s fifth largest commercial bank, sought to increase sales of its products and services by rewarding employees who met sales goals and generated more revenue for the bank through an incentive-compensation program. Under this pressure, employees engaged in unlawful activity by utilizing customers’ personal identifying information to open deposit accounts, apply for and issue credit cards and open lines of credit from 2010 to 2020.”
The lawmakers maintain the products accrued fees and increased profits for U.S. Bank, to the detriment of its own customers.
The lawmakers have requested U.S. Bank brief Congressional staff regarding the matter. They are also seeking responses to inquiries that include the number of unauthorized accounts opened from Jan. 1, 2010 to the present; the number of credit cards and other lines of credit issued without the knowledge or consent of U.S. Bank customers; and the number of unauthorized accounts opened by U.S. Bank employees on the basis of existing customers’ personal identifying information.