Capital One Sued By CFPB For Allegedly Cheating Customers Out Of Billions In Interest Payments

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(RTTNews) - The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has filed a lawsuit against Capital One, N.A., and its parent holding company, Capital One Financial Corp., alleging that the company cheated millions of consumers of more than $2 billion in interest.

The CFPB alleges that Capital One promised consumers that its flagship "360 Savings" account provided one of the nation's "best" and "highest" interest rates, but the bank froze the interest rate at a low level while rates rose nationwide.

Around the same time, Capital One created a virtually identical product, "360 Performance Savings," that differed from 360 Savings only in that it paid out substantially more in interest—at one point more than 14 times the 360 Savings rate.

Capital One did not specifically notify 360 Savings accountholders about the new product, and instead worked to keep them in the dark about these better-paying accounts, the complaint states.

The CFPB alleges that Capital One obscured the new product from its 360 Savings accountholders and cost millions of consumers more than $2 billion in lost interest payments.

The CFPB's lawsuit seeks to stop the companies' unlawful conduct, provide redress for harmed consumers, and impose civil money penalties, which would be paid into the CFPB's victims relief fund.

"The CFPB is suing Capital One for cheating families out of billions of dollars on their savings accounts," said CFPB Director Rohit Chopra. "Banks should not be baiting people with promises they can't live up to."

Capital One, N.A. is a national bank with more than $480 billion in assets and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Capital One Financial Corp. (COF).