A Minnesota banking company has agreed to pay $25 million in restitution to customers for “obscured” overdraft fees that they were charged, and has agreed to an injunction to prevent future violations, the federal consumer financial protection agency said Friday.
In a release the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (BCFP) said that TCF National Bank of Wayzata, Minn., had a agreed to the payment, part of a proposed settlement between the bank and the bureau. The bank operates approximately 318 retail branches across Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Colorado, Arizona, and South Dakota, BCFP said.
“Banks must first obtain a consumer’s consent before they can lawfully charge overdraft fees on one-time debit purchases and ATM withdrawals,” the agency said in its release. “The Bureau alleged in its lawsuit that, when attempting to obtain this consent, TCF obscured the fees it charged and made consenting to overdraft fees seem mandatory for new customers to open an account.”
BCFP said in addition to the restitution, TCF National was assessed a civil money penalty (CMP) of $5 million. However, the agency said, that CMP will be adjusted to account for a $3 million penalty imposed by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) in a separate order, also entered Friday.
“Today’s action was taken in coordination with the OCC, with which the Bureau worked closely on this matter,” the bureau stated.
Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection Settles With TCF National Bank