US consumer watchdog sues top banks over alleged fraud on Zelle payment app

By Manya Saini

(Reuters) -The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said on Friday it had filed a lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM), Bank of America, and Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) for failing to protect consumers from “widespread fraud” on payments platform Zelle.

The CFPB seeks to stop the alleged unlawful practices, secure redress and penalties, and obtain other relief for consumers, it said in a statement.

The proliferation of fraud and scams on Zelle has attracted attention from U.S. lawmakers, including Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren and regulators concerned about consumer protection.

“What they built became a goldmine for criminals,” making it easy for fraudsters to drain accounts while providing insufficient protections for consumers or making them whole for losses, CFPB Director Rohit Chopra told journalists in a briefing. “These banks broke the law by running a payments system that made fraud easy, while refusing to help the victims.”

Zelle is a payments network owned by seven banks, including JPMorgan and BofA.

“The CFPB’s attacks on Zelle are legally and factually flawed, and the timing of this lawsuit appears to be driven by political factors,” said Early Warning Services, the company that operates Zelle and is jointly owned by banks.

The consumer regulator describes how hundreds of thousands of consumers filed fraud complaints and were largely denied assistance, with some being told to contact the fraudsters directly to recover their money.

JPMorgan, Bank of America and Wells Fargo declined to comment.