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WASHINGTON, DC — Today, Acting CFPB Director Russ Vought abruptly dropped the agency’s lawsuit against JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and Early Warning Signs—the owners and operator of Zelle—despite ongoing concerns the companies failed to appropriately investigate complaints of, or compensate victims for, fraud. Related reporting from government watchdog Accountable.US revealed today that JPMorgan and its subsidiaries have paid over $550 million in fines and consumer redress due to CFPB actions. 

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The administration is far more concerned with pleasing big banks and billionaires than the Chase, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America customers who lost $870 million since the launch of Zelle. Despite a growing threat of bad actors, Zelle and the banks that own it have failed to rollout adequate safeguards, leaving millions of consumers without recourse in cases of fraud and abuse. “It’s incomprehensibly reckless that the Trump administration is giving their Wall Street donors a free pass, while leaving Americans and their hard-earned dollars more susceptible to fraud”

Accountable.US Executive Director Tony Carrk

In August 2024, congressional lawmakers, led by Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), introduced legislation updating the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA) to require Zelle—and the banks that own it—to better protect consumers from scams. Blumenthal pointed out that, “Zelle and the banks that own it have failed to implement adequate safeguards and reimbursement policies to make consumers whole when they fall victim to scams and fraud.” 

Last week, the CFPB dismissed at least four enforcement cases, including against Capital One which was accused of “cheating consumers out of more than $2 billion in interest payments on savings accounts.”

Trump’s team has insisted they want to build a more “streamlined and efficient” CFPB, but so far that has meant pausing ongoing investigations into anti-consumer, predatory practices, dropping lawsuits that stand to put billions back into the pockets of consumers, and Congressional Republicans working to undo CFPB rules that would lower overdraft fees and protect consumers on digital payment platforms. 

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