The CFPB has ordered U.S bank to pay a total of $48 million dollar refund to customers who were the subject of deceptive and illegal billing practices. In total 420,000 customers were “unfairly charged for identity protection add-ons”. U.S Bank will also be required to pay a $5 million civil money penalty to the CFPB and another $4 million to the OCC.
If you were a U.S bank customer between 2003 and 2012 and were charged for identity protection or credit monitoring unfairly, then you should receive a full refund of any fees charged for this service along with any fees or charges incurred as a result of being billed for this services (e.g interest charges or over the limit fees). If you’re still an existing U.S bank customer then you’ll receive a credit to your account, if you’re no longer a customer you’ll receive your payout in the form of a check.
Please keep in mind that U.S bank has 90 days to submit their reimbursement plan for approval and then it will take some time for the funds to be reimbursed to consumers. As always, we’re glad to see the CFPB cracking down on banks running these deceptive practices. There are plenty of ways to monitor your credit for free and identity theft insurance is largely a scam because of what it doesn’t cover (stolen funds).
