TD Bank was ordered to pay $28 million in fines by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which ruled the bank had shared inaccurate information about its customers to consumer reporting companies.
Consumer reports are used by financial institutions and other lenders to determine access to credit, housing or employment. By sharing inaccurate information regarding bankruptcies and credit card delinquencies with consumer reporting companies, TD inhibited consumer access to credit, according to today’s CFPB release.
“The CFPB’s investigation found that TD Bank illegally threatened the consumer reports of its customers with fraudulent information and then barely lifted a finger to fix it,” CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said in the release.
According to the CFPB, the $367.2 billion bank is being fined for:
- Failing to fix credit card reporting errors that it knew about;
- Sharing false information with consumer reporting companies; and
- Failing to investigate the disputes.
The breakdown of the fine is: $7.76 million in redress to affected customers and a $20 million civil penalty, according to today’s release.
“Rather than treating its customers fairly and following the law, TD Bank’s management clearly cared more about growth and expanding its empire through mergers,” Chopra said. “Regulators will need to focus major attention on TD Bank to change its course.”
The bank is also expected to pay $2.6 billion from its U.S.-based money laundering compliance lapses, the bank discussed during its third quarter earnings.
Register for the complimentary webinar presented by Bank Automation News: “The future of open banking: Payments meet data,” on Tuesday, Sept. 17, at 11 a.m. ET. Register for the webinar here.
