Consumers file Bank of America lawsuits over PPP loans, Zelle

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Bank of America lawsuits overview: 

• Who: Consumers filed a trio of class action lawsuits against Bank of America in the past several months. 
• Why: Bank of America is collectively accused of misleadingly marketing PPP loans, making unauthorized withdrawals through the digital payment network Zelle and negligently allowing Zelle to suffer a glitch.
• Where: The class action lawsuits were filed in California and Arizona federal courts.

Consumers recently filed a trio of class action lawsuits against Bank of America over claims the financial institution misleadingly marketed PPP loans, made unauthorized Zelle withdraws and negligently allowed Zelle to suffer a glitch. 

Bank of America class action claims company made unauthorized Zelle withdrawals

The latest Bank of America lawsuit was filed only days ago by a customer arguing the company broke the law by allegedly allowing withdrawals from customer accounts through the digital payment network Zelle. 

The customer behind the class action lawsuit argues Bank of America, along with zellepay.com, committed “massive fraud” and violated both state and federal consumer protection laws with their alleged misconduct. 

Bank of America is accused of making unauthorized transactions through Zelle for hundreds to thousands of individuals with both a Bank of America and Zelle account. 

“The withdrawals show as a Zelle transaction but were never authorized by the customer,” the Bank of America class action states. 

Bank of America negligent in allowing Zelle glitch, class action says

A consumer filed a separate Bank of America lawsuit involving Zelle in January, arguing the company was negligent by allegedly allowing a Zelle glitch. 

The consumers claim they were unable to access their Bank of America accounts and saw their balances drop into the red during an alleged glitch Jan. 18 that caused the bank to delay posting Zelle transactions from the three days prior. 

Bank of America is accused of causing “immense hardship” for the allegedly impacted account holders, who argue they were unable to access funds needed for “basic necessities,” such as household bills. 

“During defendants’ service malfunction, consumers did not have access to their funds, causing immense hardship, including the inability to pay for basic necessities, such as food, rent, electricity, gas and medicine,” the Bank of America class action states. 

Consumers also argued that the Zelle glitch caused them to incur overdraft and late fees and to suffer “extreme anxiety and stress” as to whether or not they would ultimately be able to “meet their financial obligations.” 

“Defendants have failed to meet their duties to their customers who relied upon defendants to ensure the availability of their funds and the accuracy of their account statements,” the Bank of America class action states. 

Bank of America accused of misleading small business owners into taking out PPP loans

A third Bank of America lawsuit filed by three small businesses argues the company misled them into taking out pandemic-era Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans that the government would not forgive. 

The small business owners argued they were under the impression that the government would forgive the PPP loans and that Bank of America marketed the program to them in a way that was deceptive and misleading. 

Bank of America is accused of partnering with the government to process the PPP loans and profiting off of doing so by receiving a processing fee payment, which was based on the size of the loan.

The small business owners claim Bank of America marketed the PPP loans as a solution to paying their independent contractors, while, at the same time, allegedly forcing the businesses to take out a larger loan than what they would have needed. 

“Bank of America convinced thousands (and potentially millions) of desperate small-business owners trying to save their businesses from collapse in the midst of a global pandemic to obtain loan amounts far higher than would ever be forgiven,” the Bank of America class action states. 

Have you been injured by Bank of America? Let us know in the comments!

Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:

• Bank of America class action alleges bank misleadingly marketed PPP loans to small businesses
• Bank of America class action alleges company does not properly investigate unauthorized card use
• Bank of America class action claims company does not disclose risks of Zelle fraud
• American credit card debt increases at record rates