A quick search through the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s public consumer complaint database produces some alarming results that raise the question, “Is Wells Fargo’s cross-selling scandal over and is it really limited to only one bank?”
There are approximately 94 public results for complaints on Wells Fargo about unsolicited credit cards since the database began accepting complaints when the bureau opened its doors in July 2011 (The CFPB fined Wells Fargo for secretly opened deposit and credit accounts under existing customers' names without their knowledge from May 2011 to July 2015.)
However, the database does not make public every complaint it receives, only publishing consumer’s description of what happened if the consumer opts to share it and after taking steps to remove personal information.
According to the CFPB, “Complaints are listed in the database after the company responds or after they’ve had the complaint for 15 calendar days, whichever comes first.”
This detail is important: The CFPB does not verify all the facts alleged in these complaints. However, it does take steps to confirm a commercial relationship between the consumer and the company (This decision sparked a lot of negative feedback in the industry.)
Also, the CFPB did not start allowing consumers to share their version of the interaction on the CFPB’s public-facing consumer complaint database until March 2015. Back in June 1, 2015, the bureau had handled more than 627,000 and still receives thousands of complaints weekly.
At the time, CFPB Director Richard Cordray said, “Consumer narratives shed light on the full consumer perspective behind a complaint. Narratives humanize the problems consumers face in the marketplace.”
The following complaint examples should do exactly that and “humanize the problems.”
Further, Cordray expressed disappoint at Wells and indicated this may just be the beginning of similar actions against the big banks.
Here are five complaints on Wells Fargo about unsolicited credit cards that came after the time period Wells Fargo was investigated for, which was from May 2011 to July 2015:
Sept. 8, 2015:
I applied for this secured card, and a few days later I received the attached letter in the mail basically stating " Thank you for applying, please fund the account, if we do not receive funding for the account an account will not be established '' This is basically what I understand the letter to read. Long story, short. I never funded the account and yet, an account was established and is showing up on my consumer credit report XXXX. I claim they should never have opened an account much less report it to my credit reports. I want them to delete all information from these XXXX credit bureaus. I am sending the letter that started this whole issue.
This complaint is now closed with non-monetary relief, with a timely response from the bank and no consumer dispute.
Dec. 14, 2015:
Wells Fargo in XXXX XXXX, GA opened a credit card in my name without my permission or consent. The banker never spoke to me about a credit card nor did I ask about a credit card.
This complaint is now closed with a timely response from the bank, with no consumer dispute.
Jan. 21, 2016:
I received an active credit card from Wells Fargo Financial National Bank that I did not apply for.
This complaint is now closed with non-monetary relief, with a timely response from the bank and no consumer dispute.
Feb. 24, 2016:
XXXX, a Wells Fargo company, claims I opened an account with them in early XXXX w/ a limit of {$6200.00}. I did not open this account nor did I ever use it. I would never do business with a Wells Fargo company due to their practices and consumer lawsuit history. When I saw the account on my credit report in XXXX, I called them, told them I never opened the account and insisted they close it. While they did they reported that they closed it instead of noting it was their mistake. I believe them to be a predatory company & should be investigated for same.
This complaint is now closed with explanation, with a timely response from the bank and no consumer dispute.
July 6, 2016:
I am on a credit card with Wells Fargo as an authorized user that I did not sign up for. This is effecting my credit in a negative manor. I have spent over 4 hours on the phone with Wells Fargo trying to fix this. Most of my time spend during this wasted time was verifying who I was and getting transferred and hung up on. They even sent me into a bank branch because they were sure that would resolve my issue. I drove all the way to bank only to be told that they do not deal with credit cards. On XX/XX/XXXX I called XXXX and spoke with XXXX employee # XXXX ref # for call – XXXX – He was supposed to send me proof that I should be on this account and the proof was never received. Finally, after wasting over 6 hours of my time, I have decoded to file a report.
This complaint is now closed with explanation, with a timely response from the bank but the consumer did dispute it. Wells Fargo has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response.
Getting rid of the “Wells Fargo” in the filter for unsolicited credit cards generates 1,301 results, with 485 of the coming after May 2015.
Here are three other similar examples that come from banks outside of Wells Fargo.
Feb. 19, 2016: Bank of America
This is in connection with Case number : XXXX. I could not find any where to supplement my initial complaint. On XXXX/XXXX/XXXX I was contacted by B of A representative XXXX XXXX. I explained the deceptive nature of the Signature Card promotion. I asked XXXX XXXX why B of A did not disclose that by applying for the Signature Card, I was also applying for the junk Platinum card. She told me that I had not applied for the Platinum card, but that B of A had given it to me anyway, because it did not want to give me the Signature Card. This is even worse, because B of A admits that it sent me a credit card that I had not asked for, and it arrived with a {$50.00} charge already on the account before I even activated the card. Also, B of A reported this card on my credit report, despite the fact that I had never applied for, or activated the card. Since B of A now admits that I did not apply for this card, it violated 15 USC 1642 by sending me the card, for which it charged me {$50.00}.
This complaint is now closed with monetary relief, with a timely response from the bank. The consumer did dispute it.
March 17, 2016: Ally Financial
I have XXXX finance loans on my account for auto loans from XXXX XXXX that I never applied for or authorized. I never needed an auto loan because I purchased a used vehicle with cash. I have an inquiry from Ally Financial Inc that I never authorized. I have an inquiry from XXXX XXXX. I have an inquiry from XXXX XXXX that I didn't authorize. I have an inquiry from XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX that I didn't authorize. I have an inquiry from XXXX XXXX XXXX that I never authorized. I have an inquiry from XXXX XXXX XXXX that I didn't authorize. I would like to dispute all the above names from these credit agencies as I didn't give any of them the permission to access my credit therefore putting these hard inquiries on my credit report which will damage my credit.
This complaint is now closed with explanation, with a timely response from the bank.
Aug. 9, 2016: SunTrust
My wife was in a branch of Suntrust Bank to pick up my debit card that accidentally left in the ATM machine. When she stopped at the branch to pick up my card, the branch manager and bank teller asked my wife if she wanted to earn cash back on our debt cards. She said, " talk to my husband, he handles all of that. '' They did n't take no for an answer, asked her a couple of questions like " where did you go to high school? ", etc. With that very basic information, they opened XXXX credit cards, XXXX in my name and XXXX in her name. I had no idea that this had happened, until my credit monitoring service alerted me that an account had been opened. After learning that these accounts had been opened, I immediately tried to find out how this happened, because at first I thought it was identity theft. I later found that it was n't identity theft, but it was the people at the bank branch, that opened an account and NEVER even spoke to me. With that tiny bit of personal information about my wife, they claim that it was appropriate that they opened XXXX new credit card accounts, XXXX in her name and XXXX in my name. Now, I 'm trying to get the account closed and removed from my credit report, but I am having a very difficult time.
This complaint is now closed with explanation, with a timely response from the bank.
Shortly after the news broke, CNBC interviewed Cordray on air to see if the problems were exclusive to Wells Fargo of if he thinks they could exist elsewhere.
His response to CNBC:
I can’t comment on supervisory enforcement activity, but what I can say is that this should not have happened at Wells Fargo or any bank. We put the industry clearly on notice. We will be looking for these types of problems, and they should not be occurring. A bank is supposed to be a place where you can put your money; you can trust that it is being kept safely and that you know exactly what’s going on. And that did not happen here and that was a major problem.
And while Cordray said the CPB has no indication that it is happening on any kind of systematic basis at other banks, he did caution that anybody who has an incentive program needs to be carefully monitoring it.
He continued saying:
And if you don’t do so, you’re creating risk for yourself; you’re creating risk with your regulator, which would be us (CFPB) in this case; you’re creating legal risk and you’re creating reputational risks with your customers. Nobody should be doing this. This is a loud and serious warning to anybody who might be thinking about doing this. And it’s something that we will all be looking at I can assure you.
As Ben Lane said in his blog on the news, “Cordray’s words, as they often do, carry a vaguely worded warning to the financial industry: If another company tries to pull a stunt like this, we fill find you. And we will fine you.”
This fiasco cost Wells Fargo $185 million, and if anyone else is doing the same, they can likely expect similar consequences.
Wells Fargo’s choice was to eliminate its product sales goals in 2017 because it wants to make certain its customers have full confidence that its retail bankers are always focused on the best interests of customers.
Whether you as a bank want to make a preemptive move to stop this from happening at your bank or not, with millions of customers already impacted from Wells Fargo’s scandal, you can bet potential and current borrowers are now more weary about trusting banks.
