Comerica Bank
On December 6, 2024, the Bureau filed a complaint against Comerica Bank. Comerica is a Texas banking association headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and is a subsidiary of Comerica Incorporated, one of the largest banking associations in the country. Since 2008, Comerica has had an exclusive contract with the Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service to deliver various government benefits to consumers through a prepaid “Direct Express” debit card. The prepaid card is the sole method for unbanked consumers to receive certain government benefits, including Social Security benefits. The Bureau alleges that Comerica engaged in unfair acts and practices in its management of Direct Express by: (1) failing to provide consumers a reasonable way to obtain effective and timely assistance, impeding consumers’ access to their accounts and their ability to avail themselves of the protections of Regulation E, which is the Electronic Fund Transfer Act’s (EFTA), implementing regulation; (2) forcing consumers to close their accounts and request new cards, causing them to incur additional fees instead of meeting its obligation to honor stop payment requests; (3) failing to provide correct and complete information to enrollment-fraud victims regarding whether the fraud occurred and how to obtain remediation; and (4) charging consumers ATM fees that they did not owe. The Bureau further alleges that Comerica repeatedly failed to comply with EFTA and numerous provisions of its implementing Regulation E in its treatment of Direct Express cardholders, including failing to timely investigate cardholder error claims, failing to report the results of its investigations to cardholders, and failing to provide cardholders with a written explanation of its findings. The Bureau seeks permanent injunctive relief, redress for consumers, and a civil money penalty.
RELATED DOCUMENTS
PRESS RELEASE
CFPB Sues Comerica Bank for Systematically Failing Disabled and Older Americans