Walmart Inc., and Branch Messenger, Inc.
On December 23, 2024, the Bureau filed a complaint against Walmart Inc. and Branch Messenger, Inc. Branch is a financial technology company that, since January 2020, has offered a product called the Branch Account, which includes a deposit account at Evolve Bank & Trust that consumers access through a mobile application and debit card provided by Branch. Through the Walmart Spark Driver program, Spark Drivers fulfill deliveries for Walmart customers by delivering orders from Walmart stores to customers. In connection with the Walmart Spark Driver program, defendants required workers to receive their pay using Branch Accounts or face termination from the program; and drivers had to follow a complex process to access their funds, and then faced further delays or fees to transfer their earnings into an account of their choice. The Bureau alleges that for approximately two years starting around June 2021, defendants engaged in unfair, abusive, and deceptive practices in violation of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010, including by requiring Spark Drivers to receive their compensation in Branch Accounts, opening Branch Accounts for Spark Drivers without their informed consent or, in many instances, on an unauthorized basis, and making deceptive statements about Branch to Spark Drivers. The Bureau further alleges that Branch also violated the Truth in Savings Act and its implementing Regulation DD by misrepresenting that it provided instant access or same-day pay and stop payment and transfer capabilities. Branch also violated the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA) and its implementing Regulation E by requiring some consumers to waive their rights under EFTA and failing to provide required disclosures and notices, honor stop payment requests, initiate and conduct reasonable error investigations, provide provisional credit, and maintain necessary records. The Bureau seeks, among other things, to bring defendants into compliance, consumer redress, and the imposition of civil money penalties.