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WASHINGTON, DC — Today, U.S. Bancorp and Synchrony Bank announced $2.25 billion in combined Q2 2024 earnings, up 17.7% and 13%, respectively, while harming consumers with junk fees and predatory interest rates. An Accountable.US review found U.S. Bancorp raked in $277.3 million from fees on deposit accounts, including $55 million from overdraft fees, between January and March 2024. Meanwhile, Synchrony Bank announced $643 million in Q2 2024 earnings—13% year-over-year growth that comes after Synchrony began increasing APRs to as high as 39.99% and implemented a $1.99 paper statement fee per card—hiking costs for many consumers by more than $100 a year. Synchrony’s executives previously claimed the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s rule capping credit card late fees at $8 forced them to impose new junk fees and predatory interest rates in the same breath they announced plans to spend as much as $1 billion on stock buybacks by June 2025.

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Big banks like U.S. Bancorp and Synchrony can’t have it both ways: boast of huge profits and also claim to have no choice but to punish consumers with excessive junk fees and interest rates. Despite enjoying bigger earnings and enough fun money to reward wealthy investors with a billion dollars in new stock buybacks, Synchrony Bank jacked interest rates to predatory levels and tried to blame the administration for making them do it. Synchrony’s own SEC filings continue to show no one is making them price-gouge everyday borrowers but their own greedy executives. Greed is why Synchrony Bank is connected to the lawsuit blocking the Biden administration crackdown on abusive credit card late fees – a lawsuit costing everyday Americans $27 million every day it drags on.”

Accountable.US’ Liz Zelnick

Earlier this year, the CFPB unveiled a new rule capping late fees at $8, down from an average of $30. In a costly setback for millions of consumers, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, along with the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce—of which Synchrony is a member—and others sued to block implementation of the rule and earned a stay from Trump-appointed Judge Mark Pittman of the Northern District of Texas, a decision costing American families roughly $27 million each day that it’s in effect.

Yesterday, the right-tilted Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the U.S. Chamber and is forcing their lawsuit to proceed in federal court in the Northern District of Texas – overruling Judge Pittman who repeatedly decided to transfer the case to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia where it belongs. Pittman had previously criticized the corporate-funded U.S. Chamber for blatant judge shopping seeking preferential treatment, saying, “Venue is not a continental breakfast; you cannot pick and choose on a plaintiffs’ whim where and how a lawsuit is filed.

“From the beginning, the U.S. Chamber’s legal strategy has been to sue the administration in 5th Circuit territory where they expect favorable rulings towards legitimizing credit card late fees as high as $41 to maximize corporate profits – and the notoriously industry-friendly Fifth Circuit has done nothing to disabuse them of that notion,” added Zelnick. “The far-right Fifth Circuit’s latest power grab and blatant judicial overreach perfectly exemplify why Congress must pass enforceable judicial ethics reforms. The Fifth Circuit continues to go out of its way to ensure the U.S. Chamber and the big banks they represent get exactly what they want in a case that could cost vulnerable Americans billions of dollars.”

19 out of the 26 judges serving on the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals were appointed by Republicans, including 6 by Donald Trump. An Accountable.US analysis found that since Donald Trump took office in January 2017, roughly 63% of the U.S. Chamber’s lawsuits challenging federal regulations were filed within district courts under the Fifth Circuit’s jurisdiction. The Fifth Circuit has continued to add to its reputation of corporate favoritism.

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