Thursday marked The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) dismissal of their lawsuit initiated on 14 January 2025, suing Capital One, and its parent holding company, Capital One Financial Corp for cheating millions of consumers out of more than $2 billion in savings account interest.
The lawsuit, originally filed just ten days before President Trump took office, alleged that Capital One misled customers by maintaining low interest rates on its 360 Savings accounts while failing to adequately inform account holders about the new higher-yielding 360 Performance Savings account.
The CFPB also withdrew their lawsuits against Rocket Homes and Vanderbilt Mortgage and Finance on Thursday. These suits (along with the one against Capital One), were filed under former CFPB director, Rohit Chopra, who was fired by Trump two weeks after Inauguration Day.
Future of the CFPB
A court filing dated 27 February confirmed that the CFPB voluntarily dismissed the Capital One case, two weeks after the Trump administration shut down the agency’s headquarters and significantly halted its activities.
Jonathan McKernan, former Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC) board member and Trump's nominee to permanently head the CFPB, also testified during his Senate confirmation hearing on Thursday. According to a federal court motion filed on 24 February, the Trump administration intends to maintain the CFPB's operations, though in a more streamlined capacity.
Created in 2011 under the Dodd-Frank Act, the CFPB has historically fined banks for actions such as creating bank accounts for customers without their knowledge, and for imposing excessive overdraft fees.,
Operating as an independent government agency for consumer protection in the financial sector, notable CFPB efforts include:
- 2024: Lawsuit against Early Warning Services, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Chase for allegedly failing to protect the Zelle network from fraud, leading to hundreds of millions of dollars in consumer losses.
- 2024: Ordered Navy Federal Credit Union to pay $95 million in refunds and fines related to overdraft fees.
- 2022: Enforced Wells Fargo to pay $3.7 billion in compensation and penalties for overdraft fees and interest charges on loans.