Bank of America autopay class action moves forward

Bank of America autopay cancellation class action overview: 

• Who: A Bank of America customer has sued the company.
• Why: The plaintiff says the bank canceled his auto payment to his credit card due to non-use of the card, without his knowledge. 
• Where: The Bank of America autopay cancellation class action was filed in a California federal court.

A California federal judge has allowed a lawsuit to proceed that alleges Bank of America canceled credit card holders’ automatic bill payments without notifying them.

On July 9, Judge Dana M. Sabraw issued an order partially granting Bank of America’s motion for judgment on the allegations, but allowing most of the claims to proceed. 

Plaintiff Jeffrey Chen says he is a Bank of America credit card holder and enrolled in the bank’s automatic bill payment program. In June 2023, Chen says he learned that his Bank of America automatic bill payments had been canceled and he had been unenrolled from the program because he had not used the credit card for a year.

He says this undisclosed change in his autopay status affected his credit score. Chen’s lawsuit asserted claims for violations of California’s Consumer Legal Remedies Act (CLRA), False Advertising Law, and Unfair Competition Law.

Judge dismisses CLRA claims but allows the rest to proceed

In her recent order, Sabraw said she agreed with the bank’s argument that the CLRA claims should be dismissed, because the law does not explicitly apply to credit cards or autopay programs. 

She added that there is case law that supports the narrow interpretation of the law that Chen argued against. Sabraw allowed the False Advertising Law and Unfair Competition Law claims to proceed, denying the bank’s claims that Chen did not have standing and did not satisfy the pleading claims.

“Plaintiff has alleged the ‘who’ (defendant) and the ‘what’ (failed to inform its autopay customers that their enrollment in the autopay program would be automatically canceled if their credit card was not used for a certain period of time),” the order says.

Chen says he and others would not have enrolled in the Bank of America automatic bill payments program had he known his enrollment would automatically be canceled due to non-use of his credit card.

Were you affected by this alleged Bank of America autopay issue? Let us know in the comments! 

Chen is represented by James M. Treglio and Mark Potter of Potter Handy LLP.

The Bank of America automatic bill payments class action lawsuit is Jeffrey Chen v. Bank of America Corp., et al., Case No. 3:23-cv-01762, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

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