CFPB orders Fifth Third Bank to pay $20M over fake accounts, forced auto coverage

Ohio-based Fifth Third Bank will pay $20 million in penalties to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) for allegedly opening fake bank accounts and wrongfully repossessing customers’ vehicles.

The CFPB penalized Fifth Third Bank $15 million for incentivizing bank employees to open fake deposit accounts, credit cards, and other financial products without customers’ knowledge in order to hit certain sales goals, the agency said Tuesday in a press release. The bank also forced auto loan customers to accept unnecessary or duplicative insurance coverage that contributed to nearly 1,000 customers’ vehicles being repossessed, meriting a $5 million penalty

The CFPB also ordered the bank to issue refunds to 35,000 affected customers, and to create a policy banning the type of employee sales goals that contributed to the creation of fake accounts.