WASHINGTON—The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has ended consent orders against U.S. Bank and Apple, cutting short enhanced compliance requirements imposed during the Biden administration, BankingDive reported.
U.S. Bank was fined $20.7 million in 2023 for freezing unemployment benefits on ReliaCard accounts during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, a move it defended as an anti-fraud response to a surge in claims.
“While a small portion of cardholders were affected due to extended holds, we prevented fraud of over $375 million and returned to the states hundreds of millions in additional funds sent to questionable accounts,” a spokesperson for U.S. Bank said in 2023, according to BankingDive. “This saved taxpayers from significant losses … We remain committed to serving our state agency clients and their customers.”
The CFPB, then under Biden-era Director Rohit Chopra, argued that, insome cases, U.S. Bank failed to provide consumers with provisional credits even after they reported unauthorized transfers from their accounts, BankingDive noted.