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304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
FILE PHOTO: Signs are seen outside Capital One Bank in Manhattan, New York, U.S., November 12, 2021.
Andrew Kelly | Reuters
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced Tuesday that it was a trial The capital is one for misleading consumers about the interest rates on their savings accounts and “cheating” them out of more than $2 billion in interest.
The agency said in a statement that Capital One defrauded holders of its 360 Savings account by bundling it with a newer, higher-yielding savings account option, the 360 Performance Savings account. The bank allegedly failed to tell 360 savings account holders about the new option and marketed the two products alike to convince customers they were the same.
However, according to the CFPB, the interest rates of the two options were significantly different. Capital One raised the 360 Performance Savings 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% from late 2019 year until mid-2024, the agency reports.
Despite the relatively low interest rate the CFPB claimed, the 360 Savings Account was advertised as a high-interest savings account. The bureau said Capital One aimed to keep 360 Savings users in the dark about the higher yield option by replacing all references to the account with the similarly named 360 Performance Savings option on its website, excluding account holders from marketing campaigns touting the higher yield . account and prohibit employees from informing account holders about the 360 Performance Savings opportunity.
“The CFPB is suing Capital One for defrauding families out of billions of dollars in their savings accounts,” CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said in a news release. “Banks shouldn’t be baiting people with promises they can’t keep.”
In a statement, Capital One denied the allegations and said it was transparently selling its 360 Performance Savings account.
“We are deeply disappointed that the CFPB continues its recent pattern of filing lawsuits in the eleventh hour before a change in administration. We categorically disagree with their demands and will resolutely defend ourselves in court,” the company said in a statement.
The bank added that the 360 Performance Savings product is “marketed widely, including on national television, with the simplest and most transparent terms in the industry.”
