The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced Tuesday that it has filed a lawsuit against Capital One Bank for misleading customers about their savings account interest rates.
The CFPB accuses Capital One of “cheating” clients out of more than $2 billion in interest after deceiving them about its 360 Savings account.
Capital One allegedly conflated it with its higher-yield savings account option, the 360 Performance Savings account, failing to notify 360 Savings account holders of the newer option.
The bank marketed the two products similarly to lead customers to believe they were the same, but the interest rates of the two options were not.
Capital One increased the 360 Performance Savings interest rate from 0.4% in April 2022 to 4.35% in January 2024, while it lowered and then froze the 360 Savings rate at 0.3% between late 2019 and mid-2024, the agency said.
CFPB Director Rohit Chopra announced the filing of the lawsuit in a news release. “The CFPB is suing Capital One for cheating families out of billions of dollars on their savings accounts,” Chopra said. “Banks should not be baiting people with promises they can’t live up to.”
In a statement, Capital One denied the allegations and said it transparently marketed its 360 Performance Savings account.
“We are deeply disappointed to see the CFPB continue its recent pattern of filing eleventh hour lawsuits ahead of a change in administration. We strongly disagree with their claims and will vigorously defend ourselves in court,” the company said.
