Regional Bank Settles Deposit Discrepancy Claims with the CFPB, FDIC, and OCC

On August 12, 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it, along with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), had entered into several consent orders with affiliated regional banks over allegations concerning consumer bank deposits.  According to the consent orders, the banks allegedly failed to establish customers’ actual deposit amounts after the banks’ electronic systems determined there was a discrepancy between the deposit amount on the deposit slip and the amount deposited.  The agencies alleged that the banks credited customers’ accounts with the amount read on the deposit slips, which amount was likely inaccurate and potentially less than what was actually deposited by the customer.  The CFPB’s consent order alleged that the banks’ conduct constituted “unfair, deceptive, or abusive” acts in violation of the Consumer Financial Protection Act.  The banks agreed to provide $11,000,000 in consumer relief, to design a redress plan to distribute the consumer relief, and to pay a $7,500,000 penalty to the CFPB.  The OCC’s consent order alleged that the banks had violated Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act because the banks’ failure to accurately process deposits and payments was an unfair and deceptive practice.  The banks agreed to pay a civil money penalty of $10,000,000 to the OCC to settle these claims.  The FDIC’s consent order alleged similar violations of Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, and the banks agreed to adopt a restitution plan, hire an independent auditor, and pay a $3,000,000 civil money penalty to the FDIC.