WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) took action against U.S. Bank for illegally accessing its customers’ credit reports and opening checking and savings accounts, credit cards, and lines of credit without customers’ permission. U.S. Bank pressured and incentivized its employees to sell multiple products and services to its customers, including imposing sales goals as part of their employees’ job requirements. In response, U.S. Bank employees unlawfully accessed customers’ credit reports and sensitive personal data to apply for and open unauthorized accounts. U.S. Bank must make harmed customers whole and pay a $37.5 million penalty.

“For over a decade, U.S. Bank knew its employees were taking advantage of its customers by misappropriating consumer data to create fictitious accounts,” said CFPB Director Rohit Chopra. “We all must do more to hold lawbreaking companies accountable when they abuse and misuse our sensitive personal data.”

U.S. Bank (NASDAQ:USB) is a Minneapolis-based bank with over $559 billion in assets, making it the fifth largest bank in the U.S. It operates more than 2,800 banking branches across the nation. It offers and provides an array of financial products and services to consumers, including deposit accounts, credit cards, and lines of credit primarily used by its customers for personal, family, or household purposes.

The CFPB’s investigation found specific evidence that revealed that U.S. Bank was aware that...

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