The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is ordering U.S. Bank, chartered in Ohio, to refund more than $48 million to 420,115 customers it says were charged for add-on products, including identity protection and credit monitoring services that were either unauthorized or never received. That bank was also required to pay $9 million in penalties, according to an administrative proceeding order issued on Thursday.
The add-ons in question were offered to customers from at least 2003 to approximately January 2012, according to the CFPB. Although written authorization was needed to obtain credit data, “in many cases some time passed before a customer’s authorization was obtained, or a Customer’s authorization was never obtained.” In other instances, customers provided their authorization, but one or more credit reporting agencies could not process the authorization if they were unable to match identification information with the agency’s own records. In these circumstances, customers were billed the full fee for additional services despite the inability to make good on their promises.
