Capital One Accused of Stealing Money from Customers

Capital One has been accused of stealing money from customers, and it's a serious issue that affects many people.

A class-action lawsuit was filed against Capital One in 2020, alleging that the bank had been charging customers for services they never signed up for.

Some customers reported being charged for services like identity theft protection and credit monitoring without their consent.

The lawsuit claimed that Capital One had made millions of dollars from these unauthorized charges.

Additional reading: Bank of America Stealing Money from Customers

Capital One is being sued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for allegedly cheating customers out of $2 billion in interest payments.

The bank is accused of freezing the interest rates of its flagship "360 Savings" accounts at low levels despite rates rising nationwide.

From 2019 to mid-2024, Capital One lowered and then froze the "360 Savings" account rate to just 0.30%, even as rates increased nationwide.

A new account, "360 Performance Savings", was launched that increased rates from 0.40% in 2022 to 4.35% in January 2024.

Explore further: Capital One 360 Interest Rate Checking

But what's even more suspicious is that Capital One operated two separate, nearly identically named account options - 360 Savings and 360 Performance Savings - and forbade its employees from volunteering information about or marketing 360 Performance Savings, the higher-paying one, to existing customers.

The CFPB called the practice deceptive, abusive and illegal, stating that the only thing that has ever meaningfully distinguished 360 Performance Savings from 360 Savings is the former product's higher interest rate.

The lawsuit seeks to stop the bank's "unlawful conduct, provide redress for harmed consumers, and impose civil money penalties."

A different take: What Is Capital One 360 Performance Savings

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is suing Capital One for allegedly cheating customers out of $2 billion in interest payments.

Capital One is accused of holding interest rates artificially low on its high-yield savings accounts, despite the Federal Reserve raising rates above 5%.

The bank operated two separate accounts, 360 Savings and 360 Performance Savings, and forbade its employees from marketing the higher-paying 360 Performance Savings to existing customers.

The CFPB claims that Capital One deliberately confused its customers about its products, making it difficult for them to make informed decisions.

The CFPB is seeking to stop Capital One's "unlawful conduct, provide redress for harmed consumers, and impose civil money penalties."

Capital One disagrees with the claims and will dispute them in court, saying it's trying to complete a deal to acquire the credit-card issuer Discover.

The CFPB has filed several lawsuits against major financial institutions in recent weeks, including one against Zelle, the money-transfer app co-owned by Capital One, for failing to protect its customers against $800 million in fraud.

The CFPB is taking action where it sees violations of the law, and in this case, it's alleging that Capital One's actions cost consumers more than $2 billion in lost interest payments.

Capital One has launched a new account, 360 Performance Savings, which offers better interest rates, but the CFPB claims the bank didn't tell customers about it, keeping them in lower-yielding accounts.

The CFPB specifically points out that Capital One kept the interest rate for its 360 Savings accounts artificially low, at 0.30% between December 2020 and at least August 2024. This is in stark contrast to the 360 Performance Savings account, which had an interest rate of up to 4.35% at the start of 2024.

Banks are generally allowed to pay as little interest as their customers will accept, but Capital One allegedly went too far by deliberately confusing its customers about its products. The bank operated two nearly identical account options, 360 Savings and 360 Performance Savings, and forbade its employees from volunteering information about the higher-paying 360 Performance Savings account to existing customers.

A unique perspective: Capital One Foreign Exchange Rate